A New Hope From Another Point of View
by camcalli
Summary: This time Ben Kenobi's daughter, Aurora, tags along for the events of A New Hope. A little romance, a lot of adventure.


Aurora Kenobi sat in the dingy cantina, idly moving her mug of ale back and forth on the corroded table, watching the tracks it left in the sand scattered across the pitted metal. Five days. Five long, tiring days traveling from one side of this sandy, dust ball of a planet to the other, with no sign of her quarry. The depression snuck up on her unexpectedly. She hadn't realized that she really wanted to find him that much. Wasn't aware that at some point, she'd stopped viewing the search as just an obligation, and instead, began hunting for her own need. She'd known going into this that it would be next to impossible. After all, the man had had eighteen years to disappear, and good reason to do so. And this wasn't just any man; this was a Jedi Knight. But she'd felt she needed to make the effort, felt like she owed it to her mother. After all, she had put it off for more than a year.

Her thoughts drifted back, back to that horrid, gut-wrenching day when it all began. Her mother had been sick for so long, the disease eating away at her body. The build that her daughter had inherited going from slender to skeletal; the dark red hair fading to grey. But she'd kept her spirits up. And when Aurora had talked about new medicines, new techniques, she'd nod and smile, and agree to try them. But in their hearts, both mother and daughter knew it was hopeless; their efforts were merely a façade. And finally, when the costs grew too much, when her mother realized that her daughter was working herself nearly to death to cover expenses, she'd put a stop to it, and she'd stopped fighting.

She'd let go, Aurora thought. She still remembered the look on her mother's face that afternoon.

"Aurora, I need to talk to you. Please, sit down for a moment." The strain on her mother's face had been visible. She'd thought at the time it was the pain, but she realized now it had been nerves.

She'd sat, uncertainly.

"I need to talk to you about your father."

This hadn't been at all what she'd been expecting and the surprise must have shown on her own face. "My father?"

"Yes. You see," Her mother had paused, apparently searching for the right words, then had settled for directness. "I lied to you about him." Her mother had said, green eyes shadowed. "He wasn't a pilot. In fact," Her mother had laughed a little. "He hated flying, especially fast. The Stars know where you got that from. His name wasn't Ben, either. It's Obi Wan. Obi Wan Kenobi and he's a Jedi Knight."

Aurora had looked up then, shocked. "Is-? Then he's not-?"

"No, and that was the biggest lie of them all. He's not dead."

And the story had poured out of her mother, in one great flood. The rise of the Emperor, the purge of the Jedi Knights, her father's disappearance and her mother's frantic flight.

"For months, I didn't even know if he was alive or not. I didn't dare search for him. I was six months pregnant with you, and I knew the most important thing I could do, was to lose myself in the galaxy in order to protect you. If the Emperor and Vader had known Obi Wan had a child, they would never have stopped searching for you." Her mother's eyes had a far away distant look, as if she was seeing back all those years. "I left word with some of our friends, hoping that your father had survived. Letting him know I was leaving, that I would protect you. I received word of him nearly a year later. He was alive. That's all I knew. From time to time, I'd receive a little token or message from him. Just to let me know that he was still alive. I'd send him back the same." She smiled at her daughter. "I sent him holograms of you. He loved you. He'd never even seen you in person, and still, he adored you. I have this." She'd dug into a drawer, pulled out a small hologram and handed it to her daughter.

Aurora had activated it, stared at the image of two men; one barely out of his teens, the other probably in his early thirties. He had reddish-blonde hair, worn slightly shaggy and a trim beard. Piercing blue eyes stared back at her. He looked neat and scholarly in his Jedi robes, but there was a hint of the rogue about him. She'd set the hologram aside, unable to sit still any longer. She'd paced back and forth around the small room

Her mother had fallen silent for a moment. "Are you angry with me?"

"No." Aurora had turned back. "What you did, you obviously did to protect me; how can I be angry with that? But, it's a lot to process all at once."

"I know." Her mother had looked regretful. "A dozen times over the years I started to tell you. But how could I? The Empire is still here; still hunting the Jedi. Any whisper, any at all, and they could find us." She'd turned away. "But it's different now. I don't have much time left. And you're starting to show latent Jedi tendencies."

Aurora had looked startled. "Me?"

"Why not? You're the daughter of a very strong Jedi. It's only natural that you would also be strong in the Force." Her mother had paused. Perhaps to gather her rapidly dwindling strength. "You need to be trained though. Without training, the Force is hardly more than an occasional lucky guess."

"Training? From whom?" Aurora had asked.

"Find your father. It won't be easy. He's hidden himself well and I don't have much information. Only that he's somewhere in the Outer Rims and the planet he's on has binary suns. It's all I have. But with the Force to guide you, I believe it will be enough." Seeing the stubborn set to her daughter's chin, her mother had continued. "Aurora, find your father; become a Jedi. The galaxy needs you. We've been without the Jedi for too long." Her mother's voice had been getting weaker, and Aurora had promised, more to reassure her mother than for any other reason.

Two days later, her mother had been dead, her father's name the last word she'd spoken. Aurora had gone about the business of packing up the few things she intended to keep, selling off the rest. She'd hired on as co-pilot on a cargo ship leaving the next day, unable to remain in the house without her mother any longer. The next year had been hard, constantly working and moving, restless, unable to settle down to one thing. Her mother's words had played over in her head, again and again, until finally, she'd decided to settle it once and for all. Not that she'd intended to train as a Jedi. The whole idea was ridiculous. The Jedi were just a legend. They'd been gone from the galaxy for as long as she'd been alive. It was rare to even hear them spoken of anymore, and if they were, it was quietly and quickly. Most citizens of the Galactic Empire were all too aware of the punishments reserved for those who spoke in favor of the Empire's enemies. No, no Jedi training for her. She'd simply find her father, make him aware of her mother's passing and be on her way. That way, she would have fulfilled the obligation to her mother, and would be able to settle down and find a job somewhere, piloting for someone else until she could save up enough to buy her own ship.

Even with that resolution, however, it had taken her months to track down her father's location and more months to work out transport. And after all that, she'd found nothing. No one had any knowledge of an Obi Wan Kenobi, no one remembered a single man arriving here 18 years ago. Her father had covered his tracks and covered them well. There was nothing here to find. She'd tried her best, and was now able to get on with her life.

And yet, here she sat in this dusty cantina, sipping at sour ale, feeling somehow as if she'd failed.

Her dark thoughts were interrupted by the cantina entrance darkening as someone approached. Beings had been coming and going all afternoon. Some of them, seeing an attractive female sitting alone, had approached her table, pestering her with unwanted attention and lame come-ons. That is, until she'd pulled her blaster out and pointed it between the eyes of her last admirer. After that, they'd seem to get the message that she wasn't interested. Still, almost each newcomer, upon spotting her, had started to head in her direction. Aurora had been forced to keep her blaster on the table in plain sight.

Now, she deliberately rested her hand on it, and turned towards the entrance and the latest cantina patrons. There were four of them, two men and two droids. The droids were directed back outside at the insistence of the bartender, and the two men approached the bar. One of them was an older man, dressed in rough brown home-spun robes, his hair and beard silvery in the dim light. He'd turned to address a large Wookiee standing at the bar, so she hadn't gotten much of a glimpse of his face, but the other man was looking around the cantina in obvious fascination.

He was young, probably around her own age, and dressed in a rough tunic, like a farmer. His hair was blonde, and his dark tan set off blue eyes the color of the sky outside. He caught her eye and smiled. Aurora lifted her brows in consideration. Cute. Very cute. Too bad she was leaving. At least, she was leaving as soon as she found transportation. She'd come in here because it was a local hangout for pilots in Mos Eisley. But so far, she hadn't found anyone who looked trustworthy.

Her attention was abruptly drawn back to the young man in the tunic when one of the other patrons at the bar grabbed him roughly by the collar. Apparently he'd attracted more than just her attention. The old man with him stepped forward.

"This little one isn't worth the effort. Come, let me buy you something."

The enraged alien ignored the peace attempt, instead tossing the young farmer across the room into a table and drawing an ugly looking blaster.

The bartender panicked, "No blasters! No blasters!" He shouted, waving his hands.

Before anyone else could move, the old man ignited some kind of laser sword, and moving with incredible agility, cut down his adversaries, leaving an arm twitching on the floor as he neatly deactivated his sword and tucked it away in his robes. There was a moment of stunned silence, then the cantina patrons resumed their activities with studied indifference. They did, however, leave a respectable amount of space around the old man. He moved to the young man, who was staring at him with awe, and helped him to his feet.

For a moment, his face was exposed to the dim light overhead, and Aurora got a good look at him. She nearly knocked over her drink in surprise. It was the bearded man from her mother's hologram. He was older, but she recognized him anyway. This was her father! No wonder he'd been able to handle the troublemakers with ease. He was a Jedi.

Uncertain how to approach him, she watched as they followed the giant Wookiee to a table near her, and unashamedly eavesdropped on their conversation with a roguish looking pilot-type.

"Han Solo." The pilot introduced himself, pointing to his own chest. "I'm captain of the Millenium Falcon. Chewie here tells me you're looking for passage to the Alderaan system."

"Yes, indeed." The old man replied. "If it's a fast ship."

Solo looked as if he couldn't believe his ears. "Fast ship? You've never heard of the Millenium Falcon?"

Aurora could understand his attitude. Even she'd heard of the Falcon, but then she imagined she traveled in somewhat different circles than her father.

"Should I have?" The old man asked, sounding amused.

"It's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs! I've outrun Imperial starships. Not the local bulk-cruisers, mind you. I'm talking about the big Corellian ships now." He leaned back in his chair, obviously insulted. "She's fast enough for you, old man. What's the cargo?"

"Only passengers. Myself, the boy, two droids, and no questions." The old man emphasized the last two words.

Solo smirked. "What is it? Some kind of local trouble?"

"Let's just say we'd like to avoid any Imperial entanglements."

Solo eyes lit. "Well, that's the trick, isn't it? And it's going to cost you something extra. Ten thousand, in advance."

The young man looked outraged. "Ten thousand? We could almost buy our own ship for that!"

"But who's going to fly it, kid? You?" Solo asked with derision.

"You bet I could! I'm not such a bad pilot myself." The farmer shot back. He turned to his older companion. "We don't have to sit here and listen-!"

The old man cut him off, leaning towards Solo, his eyes intent. "We haven't that much with us. But we could pay you two thousand now, plus fifteen when we reach Alderaan."

"Seventeen, huh?" Solo appeared to consider it. "Okay. You guys got yourself a ship. We'll leave as soon as you're ready. Docking bay Ninety-Four."

"Ninety-Four." The old man confirmed.

Solo looked beyond him. "Looks like somebody's beginning to take an interest in your handiwork."

Aurora looked towards the bar to see four Imperial Stormtroopers talking to the bartender. The bartender gestured towards the bodies, then at the booth where her father and the others sat. The Stormtroopers looked towards the booth, but her father and his young companion were gone.

Aurora swore, and rushed out of the cantina, scanning the street in search of them. She still hadn't figured out exactly how she was going to approach her father, or even _if _she was going to. She at least needed a little time to consider the situation, but it didn't look like her father was going to give her that time. He seemed to be in a hurry to get off planet.

"Eighteen years he sits on this rock, and the day I finally find him, he decides he needs to be somewhere else." She griped to herself, as she spotted the twosome disappearing down one of the spaceport's numerous alleys, and hurried after them. She trailed them to a used speeder-lot where she watched them hastily sell off a somewhat battered looking speeder and then continue down the dusty street. Even as she started to step out of concealment to follow them, a creature garbed in dark robes moved out of the shadows and started after them. Aurora swore again, and followed the follower. Keeping in concealment, the creature followed his quarry through several alleys and streets until they reached the spaceport. It stepped back into the shadows as the old man and his companions approached Docking Bay Ninety-Four and the Wookiee standing outside of it waiting for them. Aurora saw the spy raise a comlink to its snout.

"Great." She whispered. Concealing herself in the passing crowd, she made her way to the entrance of the Docking Bay and slipped inside.

Solo was just coming down the boarding ramp.

"She'll make point five beyond the speed of light. She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. I've added some special modifications myself."

The Wookiee pushed past them, heading up the ramp.

Solo made an expansive gesture. "We're a little rushed, so if you'll hurry aboard, we'll get out of here."

Aurora stepped out of the shadows. "You've got bigger problems than that, Solo."

With impressive reflexes, the pilot pulled out his blaster and leveled it at her. "Who the hell are you?"

She kept her empty hands raised in front of her. "I'm not your problem. Someone's pretty interested in your passengers here. He trailed them all the way here from the speeder lot, and I'm pretty sure he called in backup."

Her father and the young man had both turned at her voice and were now staring at her. The old man had a stunned look on his face.

"Hey!" The young farmer exclaimed. "You were at the cantina."

Aurora nodded. "That's right. I was looking for someone." She kept her eyes on her father's face.

"Who?" He asked hoarsely.

"My father." She replied evenly.

The old man went white. "Aurora?"

"Father?" The young man echoed in surprise.

"You look just like your mother." Obi Wan said in wonderment, moving towards her to touch her cheek gently.

"Ben, you have a daughter?"

"Yes. I do." Ben told him.

"Hey, look." Solo interrupted. "Can we have the family reunion later? If she's telling the truth, we need to get out of here."

Even as he spoke, Stormtroopers spilled through the entrance.

"Stop that ship!"

Solo swore and fired off several blasts at the troopers. "In, in, in!" He yelled at his passengers, who hastened quickly up the ramp.

Behind them the engines of the starship roared to life.

"Blast 'em!" Came the order from the gathered stormtroopers.

Aurora turned at the hatch and joined Solo in firing on the Imperials. Their combined laser fire caused the troopers to dive for safety.

The starship's engines roar increased to a whine and Solo hit the release button to close the hatch.

"Chewie, get us out of here!" He yelled, then turned to the woman next to him. "The passenger fee is 5,000. Hand it over, sweetheart."

Aurora looked at him in disbelief. "You have got to be kidding me! I just saved your ass."

"Yeah, thanks." Solo smirked. "It's still 5,000 credits."

She narrowed her eyes for a moment, then smiled as she felt the starship lift off. "Sorry. I don't have it. Guess you'll just have to set down and let me off."

Behind them laser fire thudded into the hatchway.

Solo's mouth opened and closed several times while he composed replies and then discarded them. Aurora continued to smile at him sweetly. Finally, at a bellow from the cockpit, he turned away, cursing under his breath and headed for the cockpit.

The others strapped themselves into seats in the main lounge, but as soon as the ship had cleared the planet's atmosphere, Aurora unstrapped and headed for the cockpit, followed by the two men. She glanced at the radar over Solo's shoulder. "Two cruisers?" Her eyes turned to the old man. "Somebody's pretty popular."

Solo was frantically typing into the navigation computer and didn't bother to answer her. "Stay sharp!" He told his copilot. "There are two more coming in; they're going to try to cut us off."

"Why don't you outrun them?" Luke asked. "I thought you said this thing was fast."

"Watch your mouth, kid, or you're going to find yourself floating home." Solo snapped. "We'll be safe enough once we make the jump to hyperspace. Besides, I know a few maneuvers. We'll lose them!"

The ship shuddered as the Imperial ships fired on them.

"Here's where the fun begins." Aurora muttered.

"How long before you can make the jump to light speed?" Ben asked.

"It'll take a few minutes to get the cooridinates from the navi-computer." Solo replied.

More explosions rocked the ship as laser fire flashed past the viewport.

"Are you kidding?" Luke asked in disbelief." At the rate they're gaining…."

Solo swiveled around to look at him. "Traveling through hyperspace ain't like dusting crops, boy! Without precise calculations we could fly right through a star or bounce too close to a supernova and that'd end your trip real quick, wouldn't it?"

Luke flushed in embarrassment and glanced quickly to see if Aurora had noticed, but she was watching a light flashing on the console.

"What's that flashing?" Luke asked, pointing to it.

"We're losing a deflector shield." She told him quietly.

"Go strap yourselves in." Solo ordered, turning back to the console. "I'm going to make the jump to lightspeed."

His three passengers hurried out of the cockpit as behind them the stars turned to streaks of light.

In the lounge, Ben turned to Aurora. "Tell me everything." He said simply.

Ben's daughter. Luke pondered this while he watched Ben and Aurora talk. He couldn't quite grasp the concept of Ben with a daughter, let alone one that looked like this. He knew he'd probably made a fool of himself, gawking at her like, well, a naïve farmboy, but she was so incredibly beautiful. He had thought the girl in the hologram was pretty, but Aurora was even more so. Plus, she looked like she knew her way around the galaxy. She could probably handle herself in a fight. Not like him, getting knocked down in a bar by some guy half his height. It had been humiliating. If Ben hadn't been there, they would have wiped the floor with him. He didn't stand a chance with Aurora. She probably thought he was an idiot. Besides, she was Ben's daughter. And Ben was a Jedi, which meant he could read feelings. Which meant Luke had better stop thinking about his daughter like this before Ben picked up on it. Which he'd probably already done….Luke flushed hot with embarrassment, and turned away before anyone saw. He saw a piece of machinery lying on the table next to him and picked it up as a distraction. It was clearly broken and Solo must have been trying to fix it, as there were several tools lying nearby. This piece went here, and that one there, but then this one could go here…..he was fiddling away happily, completely oblivious to his surroundings.

"Obi-wan, ah, my father, says he's going to train you as a Jedi."

Luke blinked several times before he realized that Aurora was now seated next to him and was talking to him.

"Um, yeah." He blushed. _How dumb could you get….Say something, you idiot! Anything._

"Is he going to train you too?"

She shrugged. "Apparently. I'm not certain how. Obi-wan says I'm strong in the force, but I certainly don't feel very powerful." For a moment, he could see the same frustration and uncertainty in her face that he always felt. Their eyes met for a moment in complete understanding, and Luke felt something click deep inside him. Aurora looked away first, a slight blush staining her cheekbones. She nodded at the part in his hands. "You're pretty good with machinery."

"Hmm? Oh, this." Luke held it up to eye level. "I was just fooling around."

"That's pretty good for idle tinkering."

Luke shrugged. "I spend a lot of time trying to get recalcitrant machinery to work. Something's always breaking on the farm, so I learned early on that it's a lot cheaper to fix something, than replace it. My uncle's always-" Luke broke off, the sense of loss washing over him anew.

Aurora's hand touched his tentatively. "Obi-wan told me what happened to your Aunt and Uncle. I'm so sorry."

Luke swallowed past the lump in his throat. "Thanks."

There was an awkward silence for a moment, then Obi-wan walked back into the lounge area.

"Captain Solo says it will be several more hours before we reach Alderaan. Why don't we take this time to begin your training." He unhooked his lightsaber and handed it to Aurora.

Luke and Aurora took turns with Solo's practice remote. Luke was slightly irritated to see she was a little better than he was. Not that she didn't get stung by the remote just as often as he did, but her movements with the lightsaber weren't quite so awkward. A lot less flailing and wild swings. It was Aurora's turn and she had just gotten stung in the leg, when suddenly Obi Wan put his hand to his head and swayed back against the wall.

"Ben?" Luke asked, catching his arm to guide him to a chair.

Aurora shut down the lightsaber and rushed over to them. "Are you alright? What's wrong?"  
"I felt a great disturbance in the force, as if millions of voices cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened." Obi Wan ran his hand across his eyes wearily, then gestured to Luke. "You'd better get on with your lesson."

Luke and Aurora exchanged worried glances. She lifted her eyebrows at him inquiringly. Luke shrugged in confusion. If Ben didn't want to talk about it, they probably shouldn't press, but he noticed with approval, that Aurora was standing next to Ben's seat instead of sitting across the lounge.

Luke was intently watching the remote spin in front of him, when Solo walked into the room. "Well, you can forget your troubles with those Imperial slugs. I told you I'd outrun them." He glanced around the room when no one acknowledged him. "Well, don't everybody thank me at once." With a scowl he slung himself into the seat next to Obi Wan. "We should be at Alderaan at 0200 hours."

Obi Wan nodded absently, most of his concentration on Luke. "Remember, Luke, a Jedi can feel the Force flowing through him."

Luke shifted position, trying to follow the remote. "You mean it controls your actions?"

"Partially, but it also obeys your commands."

Aurora winced in sympathy as the remote feinted at Luke, then spun around him to deliver a sting to the back of his leg.

Solo laughed. "Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid."

Luke deactivated the lightsaber. "You don't believe in the Force, do you?"

Solo leaned back in his seat, stacking his hands behind his head. "Kid, I've flown from one side of this galaxy to the other; I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen anything to make me believe there's one all powerful force controlling everything. No mystical energy field controls _my _destiny."

Aurora glanced at her father to see how he'd react to this statement, but Obi Wan only smiled serenely. "I suggest you try it again, Luke." He stood up to pull a helmet off the wall and place it over Luke's head. "This time, let go of your conscious self and act on instinct."

Luke laughed in disbelief. "With the blast shield down I can't even see. How am I supposed to fight?"

"Your eyes can deceive you; don't trust them." Ben stated, seating himself again.

Luke sighed, but activated the lightsaber again and assumed a defensive stance. The remote whirled and spun around him, then hit him again with a stinging laser shot.

"Stretch out with your feelings." Ben urged him.

Luke assumed the position again, letting himself go still. Aurora straightened slightly. She could feel something different this time. A whisper or a light breeze tugging at the edge of her consciousness. This time, when the remote fired, it fired three times in quick succession, but Luke, moving incredibly fast, blocked all three shots.

Chewbacca hawed quietly in surprise and Solo looked genuinely shocked.

Luke pulled off the helmet to stand flushed and triumphant. Ben smiled approvingly. "You see, Luke, you can do it."

"I call it luck," Solo said.

Ben glanced at him. "In my experience, there's no such thing as luck."

Solo looked skeptical. "Good against a remote is one thing, but good against the living? That's something else."

Aurora pushed away from the wall to catch the remote that was still hovering. She turned it towards Solo and pushed a button. A red laser shot out to hit the deck within millimeters of his boot. He jumped away in shock.

She smiled. "Good against the living _is _something else. You probably couldn't handle the remote."

Chewbacca huff-huffed laughter and Luke smiled broadly.

Solo gave her a dirty look, but declined to comment. He turned to glance behind him as a flashing light activated at a computer station. "Looks like we're coming up on Alderaan, better strap in." He motioned to Chewbacca and the two headed into the cockpit.

Luke rehooked the lightsaber at his belt. "You know, I did feel something. I could almost see the remote."

Ben patted Luke on the shoulder. "That's good. You've taken your first step into a larger world."

Aurora put the remote back in the storage locker they had borrowed it from and handed her father back his lightsaber. "Should I be able to feel the Force when I'm not using it? I could feel when Luke _drew_ on it, is that the proper word?"

Ben nodded. "That's fine. Think of the Force as a stream flowing through life. When you are connected to it, you can feel the Force flowing; when Luke sank himself into it, it created the equivalent of a ripple. Because you too were connected to the Force, you felt that ripple. That's a very good first step for both of you." It was also a good sign that the two of them were connecting in some way. This thought gave Ben some pause. After the disaster with Anakin, he wasn't certain that encouraging any kind of closeness between the two young people was a good idea. The Jedi council had forbidden emotional attachments of any kind amongst Jedi. Yet, the council was gone. And he had not always agreed with their edicts when they still existed. Ben sighed to himself. The young people had only met hours ago. It was far too early to bother worrying about later repercussions. Further thoughts were abruptly cut off when the Falcon gave a violent lurch, and loud bangs and crashes were heard.

"What the hell-?" Aurora staggered into the wall, then headed for the cockpit, with Luke behind her.

"Solo, what's going on?"

Solo and the Wookie were frantically flipping switches. "We've come out of hyperspace into some kind of asteroid field. Go strap yourselves in."

"Asteroid field?" Aurora stared out the viewport at the large chunks of rock blasting past them. "There's no asteroid field near Alderaan."

"Yeah, well." Solo gestured out the viewport mutely.

An especially large bang was felt and Aurora staggered sideways, allowing herself to fall into the navigator's chair. "Are you certain the nav 'puter on this hunk of junk's working correctly?" She typed commands quickly, checking the screen. "Damn."

"Damn what?" Luke asked.

"Our position's correct, except…no Alderaan." Aurora explained.

"What do you mean?" Luke asked. "Where is it?"

"That's what I'm trying to tell you, kid. It ain't there! It's been totally blown away." Solo explained, feverishly steering through the flying debris.

"What? But, how?" Luke asked.

"Destroyed," Ben said from behind them. "By the Empire."

Aurora glanced swiftly at her father. She hadn't even been aware he'd entered the cockpit.

Solo wiped sweat from his forehead and glared at Ben. "Impossible. An entire Starfleet couldn't destroy the whole planet! It'd take a thousand ships with more firepower than I've-" Solo broke off as an alarm sounded in the cockpit. "There's another ship coming in."

"Maybe they know what happened." Luke said hopefully.

Ben stared blankly through the viewport. "It's an Imperial fighter."

A large blast outside the cockpit followed by the appearance of a TIE fighter confirmed his words.

"They followed us!" Luke exclaimed.

Ben shook his head, seating himself behind Chewbacca. "No, it's a short range fighter."

Solo spared a swift glance behind him. "There aren't too many bases around here. Where'd it come from?"

"It's leaving in a big hurry." Aurora pointed out, watching the sensor screen. "If they identify us we're in big trouble."

"Not if I can help it," Solo stated arrogantly, boosting the thrust to the Falcon's engines. The ship leaped after the smaller fighter. "Chewie, jam it's transmissions."

"It's just as well to let it go, it's too far out of range." Ben said calmly.

"Not for long," Solo stated grimly.

Aurora tugged thoughtfully on her braid, watching the small ship ahead of them. "A fighter that size couldn't get this deep into space on its own." She turned back to the computer and started bringing up screens, searching for information on Imperial bases. She was only half listening to the conversation between Luke and Solo.

Luke shrugged. "It must have gotten lost. Been part of a convoy or something."

Solo increased thrust. "Well, he ain't gonna be around long enough to tell anybody about us."

"Look," Luke pointed through the viewport. "He's heading for that small moon."

"I think I can get him before he get's there; he's almost in range."

Aurora tuned back in to the conversation abruptly. "Wait a minute! What moon? Alderaan doesn't have any moons."

Solo gestured out the viewport. "Open your eyes, sweetheart. What else would you call that besides a moon?"

Aurora glared at the captain. "Check your geography, Solo. Alderaan doesn't have any moons!"

Beside her, Ben suddenly drew in a deep breath. "That's no moon. It's a space station!"

Solo swung back around. "It's too big to be a space station." He said doubtfully.

"I have a very bad feeling about this." Luke stated quietly.

Suddenly Ben was shouting. "Turn the ship around!"

"Yeah, I think you're right." The Corellian pilot punched buttons on the command board in front of him. "Full reverse, Chewie. Lock in the auxiliary power!"

The Wookie's huge paws moved gracefully over the controls.

The ship began to shake and buck. Alarms sounded, but the space station grew larger in the viewport.

"Chewie! Lock in the auxiliary power!" Solo yelled.

"It's not working." Aurora stated tightly.

"Why are we still moving towards it?" Luke asked, hanging onto the back of Aurora's chair.

"Aw, we're caught in a tractor beam!" Solo said in disgust. "It's pulling us in."

"Isn't there something you can do?" Luke demanded.

"There's nothing I can do about it, kid. I'm at full power. I'm going to have to shut her down. But they're not going to get me without a fight." Solo shut down the engines and the ship immediately stopped the violent shaking, settling into a graceful glide towards the increasingly larger space station. He unbuckled and stood up.

Ben laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. "It's a fight you can't win. But there are alternatives to fighting."

Luke watched in awe as the Wookie popped open two sections of floorboards in the main hold. Hidden beneath them was a small compartment. "How did you know this was here, Ben?"

"Captain Solo and Chewbacca are smugglers. I assumed they'd have hidden compartments to smuggle contraband items."

Aurora peered down into it. "It's not very large, but if we squeeze, I think we can all fit."

Chewbacca helped Luke maneuver R2 into the compartment, and then Threepio. Ben squeezed in next to the droids. Chewbacca dropped down, then reached up to help Aurora climb in gracefully. Luke followed and blushed slightly when he found himself squeezed up next to her. "Oops, sorry."

"Not your fault."

Was it his imagination, or was she blushing too?

Solo came dashing in, slightly out of breath. "I altered the logs to make it appear we abandoned ship shortly after leaving Taatooine." He squeezed into the remaining space, forcing Luke even tighter against Aurora. With Chewbacca's help, he got the compartment closed and sealed. Darkness descended.

It was quiet except for the sound of breathing and small mutterings as everyone adjusted. Solo squirmed and bumped into Luke's back. He grabbed onto Aurora to keep himself from falling onto her. "Sorry." He whispered.

"No problem,"She whispered back, "But, do you think you could move your hands?"

Luke let go as if he'd been burned, realizing that he had grabbed onto a portion of her anatomy that was generally considered off limits. He was thankful for the darkness that concealed his burning face.

Behind him, Solo laughed softly. "Way to go, kid. Maybe you're not as naïve as I thought."

Ben cleared his throat meaningfully, and they quieted down, listening to the sounds of the ship docking. Several long moments later they could hear the long hiss of the ship's ramp being lowered and then the rhythmic tread of boots on the deck plates.

Luke's heart was pounding. And although part of it was undeniably fear, he had to admit to himself that another part of it had to do with being pressed intimately up against Aurora. Her hair smelled lightly of some woodsy scent and he could feel the warmth of her skin. Luke began to grow a little uncomfortable; if they continued to remain pressed this close together, he was going to end up embarrassing himself. Fortunately for his self control, the echo of footsteps above them faded as they descended the ship's ramp, and then there was silence.

The fugitives remained silent for several long moments before Solo whispered harshly: "Are they gone?"

Chewie hrrrmd an affirmative and Ben echoed it. "Yes. They've left the ship. But we'll have to be careful. Standard Imperial procedure means they'll have posted a guard at the base of the ramp."

"I don't even want to know how you know that, old man." Solo replied. With Chewie's assistance, he released the seals on the compartment and climbed out, blaster in hand. "Stay here." He whispered down at the others, and then cautiously checked out the rest of the ship, returning a few moments later to report the all clear. The others climbed out quickly. Luke turned to help Aurora only to find her already standing near the entrance to the ramp.

"You were right," She said to Ben. "There are two stormtroopers standing there. Any ideas?"

Solo swore quietly. "This is ridiculous! Even if I could take off, I'd never get past that tractor beam."

Ben smiled serenely. "Leave that to me."

"Damn fool," Solo muttered under his breath. "I knew you were going to say that."

Ben smiled again. "Who's the more foolish; the fool or the fool who follows him?"

Chewie urf-urfed in laughter, but Solo just swore again.

Quite a while later, after dispensing with the survey crew that boarded the Falcon and the two stormtroopers guarding the ramp, Luke and Solo donned their confiscated armor. The group quickly exited the ship and headed to the gantry office. When the door opened to their knock, Chewie roared and bopped the officer standing on the other side on the top of his head, knocking him unconscious, then blasted his aide. The two stormtroopers stationed with them, were too slow in bringing their weapons to bear and Solo dropped them with two well-placed blasts.

Luke, bringing up the rear, was the last to enter the office. He quickly doffed his helmet, pushing sweaty hair out of his face to glare at Solo. "You know, between his howling and your blasting everything in sight, it's a wonder the whole station doesn't know we're here."

"Bring 'em on." Han retorted. "I'd prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around!"

"All this 'sneaking around' has kept us alive so far." Aurora pointed out.

Ignoring the humans, Artoo and Threepio moved to the control console. "We've found the computer outlet, sir." Threepio reported.

Ben, also ignoring the bickering, replied. "Plug in. Artoo should be able to access the Imperial network."

Artoo extended his information retrieval jack and inserted it in the outlet. It whirred and several lights on the console flashed. Artoo beeped.

"He says he's located the main controls to the power beam that's holding the ship here. He'll try to make the precise location appear on the monitor." Threepio translated. Several schematics flashed across the screen. Artoo beeped again, and Threepio continued. "The tractor beam is coupled to the main reactor in several locations. A power loss at one of the terminals will allow the ship to leave." The screen changed to several views, highlighting different sections. Ben studied them intently, then nodded to himself. He turned to the others. "I don't think you can help. I must go alone."

Solo shrugged. "Whatever you say. I've done more then I bargained for on this trip already."

But Luke and Aurora both looked dismayed. Luke hurried to stop Ben before he went out the door. "I want to go with you."

Ben shook his head. "Be patient, Luke. Stay and watch over the droids."

"But they can-" Luke gestured behind him at Solo and Chewie.

"The droids must be delivered safely or other star systems will suffer the same fate as Alderaan." Ben's face softened at the look of disappointment on Luke's face. "Your destiny lies along a different path than mine." He turned to look at Aurora who had yet to speak. He didn't say anything, just gazed into her eyes for a moment, and then gently touched her cheek. "As does yours. Take care of each other. The Force will be with you, always." With that, he opened the door and was gone. The door closed swiftly behind him. Aurora lifted her hand as if in protest, then let it drop slowly.

Chewbacca barked a statement.

"Boy, you said it, Chewie." Han said, kicking back in a chair. "Where did you dig up that old fossil?"

"Ben is a great man!" Luke said indignantly.

"Yeah, great at getting us into trouble." Han shot back.

"Yeah, well, I didn't hear you give any ideas." Aurora said.

Han turned his head towards her. "Anything's better than hanging around here waiting for them to pick us up." He was interrupted by a sudden spate of loud whistling from Artoo.

Luke and Aurora turned to the droids. "What is it?" Luke asked.

Threepio looked as apologetic as a droid could. "I'm afraid I'm not quite sure, sir. He says 'I've found her' and keeps repeating 'she's here'."

"Found who?" Aurora asked.

"Princess Leia."

Luke looked astonished. "The Princess? She's here?"

"Princess?" Han asked, bewildered.

Aurora ignored him. "Where is she, Artoo?"

Artoo beeped again and Threepio translated. "Level Five, Detention Block AA-23." He paused and then said in alarm, "I'm afraid she's been scheduled to be terminated!"

"Oh, no!" Luke exclaimed. "We've got to do something."

Han was sitting up in his chair looking even more confused. "What are you talking about?"

"The droids belong to her," Luke explained, "She's the one in the message. We've got to help her."

"Message?" Han held up his hands, "Now look; don't get any funny ideas. The old man wants us to wait right here."

"But he didn't know she was here!" Luke explained.

Aurora turned her back on the two men. "Artoo, find a way back into the detention block."

Han sat back down, propping his feet up on the console and stacking his hands behind his head. "I'm not going anywhere."

Luke looked shocked. "Han! They're going to execute her! We have to do something."

"A minute ago you said you didn't want to just wait here to be captured; now all you want to do is stay." Aurora pointed out. "Make up your mind, Solo."

"Marching into the detention block is _not_ what I had in mind." Han growled.

"But they're going to kill her!" Luke protested.

"Better her than me." He was told.

Luke searched desperately for something to convince the other man to help them. "She's beautiful."

"So's life." Han replied stubbornly.

Luke started to speak again, but was prevented by Aurora holding up her hand. "Allow me." She told him, before leaning towards Han. "She's rich."

Han paused for a moment. "How rich?"

Luke grinned. This was good. "Rich, powerful…Listen. If you were to rescue her the reward would be…." He trailed off, unable to think of incentive enough.

"What?" Han asked cynically.

"Well, more wealth than you can imagine."

"I don't know, I can imagine quite a bit." Han stated, swiveling in his chair to look at Luke.

"You'll get it." Luke promised earnestly.

"I'd better." Han warned.

"You will."

Han leaned back in defeat and pointed a finger at Luke. "Alright, kid. You'd better be right about this. What's your plan?"

Luke looked blank for a moment. All his energy had gone into convincing Han to help. He hadn't actually thought any farther than that. He glanced around the room seeking inspiration and spotted some binders lying on the console. "Hand me those binders." Han handed them to him silently. Luke walked towards Chewbacca. "Now, I'm just going to put these on you."

Chewie roared warningly and Luke backed off immediately. "Ooookay. Now _Han's_ just going to put these on you."

Solo stood up with a smirk on his face and clicked the binders around his partner's hairy wrists. "Don't worry, Chewie. I think I know what he has in mind."

Luke had donned his helmet again and Han followed suit. They started to head out the door.

"Ah, guys?" Aurora questioned.

They glanced back at her.

"You don't really expect me to stay here?"

Luke glanced at Han and received a shrug. His shoulders slumped. "No, I guess not. But we don't have another suit of armor…"

Aurora grabbed the second set of binders. "That's okay. I have my accessories right here." She snapped one around her wrist and held out the other to Luke. "Care to do the honors?"

Luke stepped over to her and snapped the other side closed, making sure it wasn't too tight. He couldn't help but notice that she had very soft skin.

Behind him he heard Han snicker. "Nice, kids. Usually the restraints don't factor in until much later in the relationship."

Luke was immensely grateful for the helmet that hid his flushed face.

"Yeah, you would know that, Solo." Aurora replied. She handed her comlink to Threepio, then followed the others to the door.

"Master Luke, sir?" Threepio questioned. "Pardon me for asking, but what should Artoo and I do if we're discovered here?"

"Lock the door." Luke responded.

"And hope they don't have blasters." Han added.

"That's not very reassuring." Threepio complained as the four left.

It was tense, but the foursome eventually made it to the turbolifts, and from there, down to the detention level. Aurora couldn't believe the size of the place; and the number of personnel. She'd known that the Rebellion was seriously outnumbered, but this was ridiculous. The décor too was intimidating. Everything was black, shiny and cold. As if in building this space station, the Empire had imprinted its core beliefs into the very metal of the structure.

All too soon, the turbo lift halted and the doors silently opened, giving them a view of a u-shaped computer station, several uniformed officers, and heavily-armed stormtroopers. Her hands went cold with nerves. The others must have been just as scared, because for a moment, no one moved.

Solo leaned over to whisper. "This isn't going to work."

"Then why didn't you say so earlier?" Luke's voice sounded frightened.

"I _did_."

Aurora shushed them both as she saw one of the officers coming over to them. With typical Imperial disdain, he raked his eyes over Chewbacca.

"Where are you going with this _thing_?"

Almost instinctively, Luke piped up with a response. "Prisoner transfer from cell block TS-138."

The officer looked puzzled. "I wasn't notified. I'll have to clear it." He stepped towards the comm station.

"You'd better do something quick or we've had it!" Aurora hissed.

Thinking fast with a speed she had to admire, Solo whispered to Chewie and unfastened his binders. The Wookie let loose with an ear-splitting yowl, waving his arms and yanking the blaster rifle from Han.

"Look out! He's loose!" Han yelled, ducking away from the turbolift and managing to step right in the way of one of the other stormtroopers. He pulled out his blaster, and began shooting at Chewie. Amazingly, none of his shots even came close to the Wookie, but they did manage to hit holocams, equipment and the other guards.

Luke grabbed Aurora by the arm and dumped her against the wall out of harm's way before he followed suit.

For her part, Aurora did her best to wedge herself as tightly into the corner as she could and try to avoid the energy storm of laser blasts firing around the room. Apparently, the Imperials had finally figured out that Luke and Han's aim couldn't be that bad on purpose and they were returning fire with a vengeance. Unfortunately, they had figured it out just a little too late and most of them were already down. The officer in charge had just managed to hit the general alarm when a blast from Luke's pistol caught him in the midsection and toppled him to the deck.

Solo lowered his blaster and ran to the comlink. Increasingly frantic questions were screeching from the speaker. Han ignored it to bring up a listing of prisoners.

"We've got to find out which cell this Princess of yours is in. There must be a dozen levels and-Here it is. Cell 2187. Go on-Chewie and I'll hold them here."

Luke nodded and took off at a dead run down the cell corridor."

Aurora awkwardly rolled to her feet and due to her still-bound hands, used her chin to indicate the still screeching comlink. "You'd better respond to that or they're going to send someone down here to investigate."

"Me?" Solo looked terrified. "I don't speak Imperialese. Why don't you do it?"

"Because this is the Empire we're talking about. How many female Imperial officers do you know?" Chewbacca came over to help her out of the restraints as Han looked at the squawking comlink with deep disgust. Why did he always get the worst jobs?

He cleared his throat and tried to think like an Imperial, then activated the speaker. "Everything's under control. Situation normal."

"It doesn't sound normal." The voice snapped back. "What happened?"

Nervousness crept into Solo's voice. "Uh, slight weapon malfunction. No problem now-we're all fine, thanks. How 'bout you?"

Aurora rolled her eyes in disgust. Solo glared at her. "Go get Luke and tell him to hurry it up!"

"We're sending a squad up." The comlink announced suddenly. Aurora could hear the suspicion in the mechanical voice. She grabbed a blaster from one of the downed Imperials and headed after Luke. Behind her she could hear Solo frantically trying to salvage the situation. "Negative-negative. We have an energy leak. Give us a few minutes to lock it down. Large leak, very dangerous."

"Weapon malfunction, energy leak….Who is this? What's your operating num-?"

Abandoning any attempt at discretion, Han grabbed his blaster rifle and fired point blank into the comlink, sending sparks flying. "It was a boring conversation anyway." Turning he shouted after Aurora. "Tell the kid to hurry it up; we're about to have company!"

He and Chewie then assumed defensive positions in front of the turbolift.

Aurora heard Han's shout and swore under her breath. She picked up the pace and spotted the open cell door in front of her. She heard Luke say: "I'm Luke Skywalker; I'm here to rescue you."

A female voice responded, sounding confused "You're who?"

"I'm here to rescue you. I've got your R2 unit. I'm here with Ben Kenobi." Luke explained.

Aurora burst through the door behind Luke, slightly out of breath. The white-clad woman on the bunk looked alarmed. "Who are you?"

"Part of the rescue party." Aurora panted. "We've got to go." She tilted her head to indicate Han back down the corridor. "Captain Personality there blew it."

The Princess still looked confused, but she hopped off the bunk and followed them through the cell door.

The three started back up the corridor when a series of loud explosions could be heard from the vicinity of the turbolifts. Immediately the sound of blaster fire began, and then more explosions. The sound got louder, and soon Han and Chewbacca could be seen backing towards them, still firing. As they pulled even with the threesome, Solo shouted over his shoulder. "We can't go back that way!"

"No, it looks like you've managed to cut off our only escape route." The Princess replied.

Han looked at her in angry disbelief. This was the woman they were all risking their lives for? "Begging your forgiveness, Your Highness, but maybe you'd prefer it back in your cell?"

Aurora, firing steadily at the Imperial troops, had to contain a snicker.

The Princess had the grace to look ashamed, but Solo had turned away from her before she could say anything.

Luke had ignored all of them, and pulling the comlink from his belt, muttered under his breath. "There's got to be another way out." He adjusted the frequency. "See Threepio…See Threepio, come in."

The droid's prissy voice responded almost immediately. "Yes, sir?"

Luke ducked back against the wall to avoid return fire. "We've been cut off here. Are there any other ways out of the detention area?"

Threepio's reply was lost in a sudden explosion as Chewbacca shot a section of wall containing delicate electronics.

"What was that? I didn't copy?"

"I said, all systems have been alerted to your presence, sir. The main entry seems to be the only way in or out of the cell block." The droid's voice paused, then continued. "All other information on your section is restricted."

Aurora had been half-listening to the conversation between Luke and the droid. "You can forget the main entry; we're not going to get out that way." She shouted over to Luke. "There's just too many of them."

Luke inched closer to Solo. "There isn't any other way out!" He yelled.

"We can't hold them off for long."

"This is some rescue." The Princess shouted from where she was pressed up against the wall behind Aurora. "When you came in here, didn't you have a plan for getting out?"

Solo nodded at Luke. "He's the brains, sweetheart."

Disgusted with himself, Luke could only manage an embarrassed shrug. Before he could return fire again, the Princess snatched the blaster rifle from his hand.

"Hey!"

They all stared as the diminutive Princess turned the rifle on a small grate and fired several times.

"What the hell are you're doing?" Solo demanded furiously.

"Somebody's got to save our skins." She tossed the blaster back to Luke and glared at Solo. "Into the garbage chute, flyboy!"

And as the others stared on in disbelief, she tucked up her skirts neatly and jumped feet first into the opening.

Chewbacca roared in astonishment and moved forward to stare down the chute. He roared a second time in disgust.

Solo, still firing frantically, yelled at him. "Get in there. I don't care what you smell." He emphasized his words with a gentle kick to the Wookiee's backside. Chewbacca snarled, but eased his giant frame into the chute and disappeared from view.

As if sensing their prey was escaping, the Imperials increased the blaster fire. The remaining threesome pressed back against the walls.

"Wonderful girl." Solo called across the corridor. "Either I'm going to kill her or I'm beginning to like her."

He fired off several more shots and then, he too jumped down the garbage chute.

Luke spared a glance behind him as he heard Aurora laugh.

"What?"

"I was just thinking how much fun this is going to be; listening to the constant bickering between Solo and the Princess."

Appreciating her sense of humor, Luke smiled as he continued to shoot. "More fun than jumping head first into an Imperial garbage chute?"

Aurora appeared to consider it. "I'm not sure. But then, I'm not going headfirst." She gestured to the opening. "After you."

"Oh, no." Luke smirked. "Ladies first."

"You're a true gentleman, Skywalker." She lay down cover fire and then jumped across the corridor and slid into the chute, with Luke directly behind her.

The smell was the first thing to hit them as they tumbled into a dimly lighted space. Made up of equal parts decay, mold and rust, Aurora found herself gagging before she even looked around. The room wasn't all the way full, but the variety of decomposing items more than made up for the quantity. The walls were smooth and unadorned save by a wide variety of stains and scratches. The garbage underfoot had managed to achieve an astonishing liquid state, so they were forced to wade knee deep through the uncertain footing.  
Solo was already up and searching the walls for an escape hatch. Chewie called his attention to one, but it wouldn't open, even with the Wookiee's great strength.

Disgusted, Solo turned on the Princess sarcastically. "The garbage chute was a _wonderful_ idea. What an _incredible _smell you've discovered."

Aurora tried to shake the liquid sludge from her gun. "Lay off, Solo. I didn't hear you coming up with any better ideas."

The Princess threw her a grateful look.

Solo snarled in frustration and drew his blaster. "Ah, let's get out of here! Get away from there." He told Chewie, aiming at the hatch. Before anyone could stop him, he shot point blank at the hatch.

The blaster shot ricocheted madly around the small chamber, forcing them all to duck behind the larger pieces of garbage. It detonated brilliantly against a wall barely missing Chewbacca, who bellowed in alarm.

The Princess' voice rose over the noise. "Will you put that away, you're going to get us all killed!"

Solo holstered his blaster, not even bothering to look at her. "Absolutely, Your Worship." He glanced around the room. "Look, I had everything under control until you led us down here."

Solo studiously ignored Aurora's sarcastic "Yeah, right."

"It's not going to take them long to figure out what happened to us."

The Princess sighed in resignation. "It could be worse."

As if on cue, a loud rumbling noise, accompanied by an eerie moan vibrated through the chamber. Chewbacca looked terrified and pressed himself against the wall as close as he could get.

With a look of inevitability on his face, Solo nodded. "It's worse."

Luke drew his blaster and peered around the room. "There's something alive in here."

"It's just your imagination, kid." Solo replied, but he too had drawn his blaster.

Without warning, Aurora suddenly jumped and aimed her blaster at the murk near her legs.

"What happened?" Luke asked, moving over to her.

"Something touched my leg."

"It sure as hell wasn't me." Solo quipped, then added nervously. "What was it?"

"I'm not sure." She was watching the garbage for any sign of movement.

Beside her, Luke flinched. "Something just moved past me. Watch out-" With a suddenness that was frightening, he was yanked below the surface.

"Luke!" The Princess screamed.

Aurora swore and frantically felt around for him. Solo was aiming his blaster at various clumps of garbage in a frenzied attempt to find something to shoot at.

Suddenly Luke broke back through the surface of the garbage, gagging and yanking furiously at a thick white tentacle wrapped around his neck.

"Shoot it! Kill it!" He screamed.

"Shoot it? Where?" Solo shrieked.

"Anywhere!"

Aurora lunged for Luke's arm, but he vanished under the garbage again before she could reach him. "Luke! No!"

She splashed around again trying to find him as the others watched helplessly. The only sounds were their breathing and the sloshing of the garbage. Chewie moaned softly from near the hatch. The eerie quiet was broken by the loud rumbling they had heard previously, it was accompanied by the walls of the chamber moving inwards several centimeters. They had no sooner stopped, then Luke popped up again. This time Aurora latched onto his arm immediately and helped him stagger to his feet. He was coughing and rubbing his throat, but the tentacle was nowhere to be seen.

"What happened to it?" The Princess asked nervously, eyeing the sludge.

"I don't know." Luke said hoarsely. "It had me, then it let me go."

"I have a very bad feeling about this." Aurora said quietly.

"Oh, you get those too." Solo muttered under his breath.

She shot him a dirty look, but before she could reply, the machinery rumbled again and the walls began to move. This time, though, they weren't stopping.

"Don't just stand there!" The Princess yelled. "Find something to brace them with."

Shaken out of their stupor, they all scrambled to shove as much garbage against the walls as they could. But it made little difference. The walls continued to creep closer together. They were accompanied by the pops and twangs of garbage snapping under the pressure of the walls, all underlined by the continued menacing rumble of machinery. As the walls moved closer together, they shoved the garbage piles higher, threatening to bury the helpless prisoners.

"Get on top of it," Solo instructed, trying to help the diminutive Princess climb on top of the mountains of debris.

"I'm trying!" Leia gritted out.

Chewbacca was pushing against the walls with all his strength, but the walls continued to close.

One large pile of debris toppled over, nearly crushing Aurora. Luke yanked her out of the way just in time, but she lost her blaster in the process.

"Thanks."

Luke gave her a weary smile. "For you, anytime. Not that we have a lot of time left."

"Sorry now that you left Taatooine?" Aurora asked.

"Oh yeah. I'm really wishing right now that I'd never even seen those droids-" He broke off in astonishment as his eyes met Aurora's.

"The droids!"

Feverishly Luke yanked the comlink off his belt and activated it. "Threepio! Come in, Threepio!" He waited for a response, but none came. Again, he tried, calling with more desperation. "Threepio, please! Come in." But the only response was static.

Long moments went by with no answer. The walls continued to move inward until they were mere meters apart.

Chewbacca had been forced to turn sideways to keep from getting stuck, and the others weren't in much better shape. The sound of the garbage being crushed was so loud, the faint buzzing sound barely registered.

It took Luke a moment to realize what it was, and then he was grabbing at it like a lifeline. "Threepio!"

"Are you there, sir?" The droid asked. "We've had some minor problems. You would not believe-"

"Shut up, Threepio!" Luke screamed. "Shut down all the garbage units on the detention level! Do you copy? Shut down all the garbage units-"

There was a terrible screeching noise from behind the walls, and then, almost instantly, the walls began moving backwards. The no-longer doomed group began yelling and whooping hysterically. Luke suddenly found Aurora pressed tightly against him as she flung her arms around his neck, screaming happily. He wrapped his own arms around her and wished fervently that he wasn't wearing unyielding armor. Too quickly, Aurora had released her grip and danced over to Chewie to throw her arms around the big Wookiee.

Luke shook off his dazed brain and activated the comlink again. "Threepio, it's all right, we're all right! Do you read me? We're okay-you did just fine. Open the pressure-maintenance hatch on-where are we anyway?"

Chewie bent down to read the numbers inscribed on the wall and roared. Aurora translated. "Unit 366-117891."

"Did you copy that?"

"Yes, sir." Threepio responded.

It took some pushing and pulling from both ends, but they managed to shove Chewbacca through the hatch. He grumbled the entire time. They had emerged into what looked to be a maintenance corridor. Dusty and little used, it was painted a utilitarian grey and had few markings. Having left their helmets behind in the detention cell entrance, there was little point in continuing the charade, so Luke and Han stripped off the stolen storm trooper armor.

Solo stretched in satisfaction. "Now, if we can just avoid any more _female_ advice, we can get out of here."

Both Aurora and the Princess stared in disbelief at Solo. Before Aurora could open her mouth for a scathing retort, Leia stepped up to Solo. "Listen, I don't know who you are or where you came from, but from now on, you do as I say."

Solo's jaw dropped. "Look, Your Holiness, let's get something straight: I take orders from one person only-me."

"It's a wonder you're still alive." She shot back, before pushing past Chewbacca. "Will somebody get this big walking carpet out of my way."

Solo stared after her, then looked at Luke with resentment. "No reward is worth this." He checked that his blaster was safely holstered, and then followed the Princess, motioning for Chewie to follow.

Aurora sighed. "That garbage chute's looking better and better."

Luke laughed. "Come on, we'd better hurry before we lose them. No telling what they might do if we leave them alone."

Several corridors and a long walk later, the group ended in a hallway with a large window overlooking the hangar. Below them, they could see the Falcon waiting silently. Solo looked longingly at his ship, checking for any visual signs of tampering, while Luke contacted the droids. A short discussion entailed, in which their respective locations were determined.

"Wonder if the old man was able to knock out the tractor beam." Solo muttered.

Leia glanced out the window at the waiting ship, then back at Solo. "You came here in that thing? You're braver than I thought."

Han gave her a dirty look. "Nice."

They turned and started down the hallway. They had no sooner turned the corner, then they came face to face with a group of stormtroopers. There was a moment of stunned silence as the two groups confronted each other in surprise, then Han let loose a wild yell and charged straight at the imperials, blasting away frantically. Chewie gave a startled roar, and then chased after his partner.

The stormtroopers, reacting atypically to this wild rampage, turned and fled, perhaps assuming their pursuers had more firepower than they did, or else unwilling to stay and face the clearly insane human.

"Get back to the ship!" Han yelled, drunk on his own success. "We'll take care of these guys"

"Han!" Leia called. She cast a half admiring look after the smuggler. "Well, he certainly is courageous. I'd better go along to make sure they stay out of trouble." Then she too took off in a run after the Corellian and his hairy companion, calling back over her shoulder as she disappeared around the next turn, "We'll meet you back at the ship!"

"Leia!" Aurora blurted in astonishment, but the Princess was out of sight.

The redhead shook her head. "The insanity is spreading."

"Yeah," Luke agreed, grabbing her hand and dragging her down the corridor in the opposite direction. "Let's get out of here before we catch it."

Muted alarms blaring inspired them to hurry in their search for an alternate route down to the hanger.

Luke suddenly grabbed Aurora's arm and yanked her into an alcove.

She had opened her mouth to protest, when she heard the sound of marching feet. The two hunkered down into the alcove, holding their breath while the platoon of stormtroopers marched past.

After they had passed, the two remained motionless, taking a moment to catch their breath. They had been running down endless corridors, dodging patrols, for what felt like hours.

"Our only hope of reaching the ship is from the other side of the hangar." Luke panted.

Aurora nodded. "They already know someone's here. Let's go."

No sooner had they started walking again when two stormtroopers appeared at the far end of the corridor. "There they are!"

"Whoops!" Luke exclaimed.

The duo turned and began running back the way they had just come only to find their way blocked by another group of soldiers.

Luke swore and searched frantically for another way out, but it was Aurora who spotted the cramped passage.

"There!" She grabbed Luke's hand and pulled him after her as he fired desperately at their pursuers. They were running down some kind of maintenance passage. Hopefully, it led to another hallway and not a dead end. Ahead, a hatch appeared and they ran faster. Maybe they could lock the hatch behind them and shut off the pursuit. Luke ran through the hatch first, to find himself suddenly faced with a seemingly empty chasm in front of him. He managed to skid to a halt, mere inches from the edge, only to have Aurora run into his back and nearly send him over anyway. She grabbed his arm to steady him.

Behind them, the sound of pursuit echoed loudly and blaster fire splashed into the frame of the hatch.

"I think we took a wrong turn." Luke said grimly, returning fire.

Aurora smacked her hand down on the hatchway control and a thick durasteel door came down between them and the Imperials, cutting off the firefight. "There's no lock!"

Luke gestured her aside and shading his face, fired directly into the controls, leaving them smoking and sparking.

"There," he said with satisfaction. "That ought to hold it for a while." He turned to survey their surroundings. "What is this place?"

"Some kind of service shaft." Aurora decided. "There's usually a bridge across it, see?" She pointed to the stub of catwalk across the shaft from them. "Find the controls that extend the bridge."

Luke looked sheepishly at the still sparking control panel. "Oops. I think I just blasted it."

Behind them, loud banging and scraping noises began on the closed hatch. "They're coming through." Aurora said, looking at Luke desperately.

The words were no sooner out of her mouth, then blaster fire hit the wall next to her. Both Luke and Aurora instinctively ducked as they looked around for the source of the shots.

Luke spotted a stormtrooper across the chasm from them on a higher level. He was taking aim again when Luke shot him in the chest. Two more stormtroopers appeared, firing at the fugitives. For several moments, Luke and the Imperials traded blaster fire, before Luke managed to hit one, sending him tumbling off the bridge into the depths of the shaft. Perhaps deeming it too dangerous, the other trooper backed out of sight.

Probably calling for reinforcements, Aurora thought.

Luke pulled a grappling hook and cable from the utility belt slung around his waist. "Look! We can swing across."

Aurora glanced at the grappling hook, across the chasm, and then down into the depths. "Umm…"

Suddenly another trooper appeared on the bridge again, firing at them. Aurora grabbed the blaster from Luke. "Do it, I'll hold him off." She returned fire while Luke swung the grappling hook.

Behind them, the hatch began to lift, revealing several white boots. "Here they come!" Aurora shouted over the laser fire, managing to hit one of the troopers.

Luke, with grim concentration on his face, let the hook go, sending it flying across the shaft to lodge in several pipes. He tugged hard on it, to make sure it was secure, then yanked Aurora into his arms.

To his shock, Aurora reached up and placed a soft kiss on his lips. Heat flooded through his body. He glanced down in surprise to see her blushing slightly. "For luck." She said, reholstering the blaster at his side, and wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.

Ignoring his traitorous body's response, Luke gripped the cable tightly, and pushed off the platform. A chill wind tugged at their clothes and hair as they swung out over the shaft. For several frantic heartbeats, they sailed above the seemingly bottomless depths. Then the silvery bridge appeared. Luke's feet brushed it, and Aurora released her grip, tumbling forward into the hallway, as he scrambled for a foothold. She grabbed hold of his tunic, just in case.

"We made it!" Luke said, unbelieving, glancing back at the deep shaft.

"Yeah, let's go." Aurora said, as several laser blasts hits the walls around them. Luke fired off several shots and then followed Aurora into the hallway.

Han, Chewbacca and Leia stood pressed against the wall, peering out into the forward hangar bay. There was a crew of stormtroopers standing guard between them and the ship.

"Didn't we just leave this party?" Han griped.

Chewie growled a reply.

They all turned with weapons ready at the sound of footsteps behind them. An out of breath Luke and Aurora ran towards them.

"What kept you?" Han asked.

"We ran into some old friends." Aurora panted.

"Is the ship alright?" Luke asked, leaning past Han for a look.

"Seems okay, if we can get to it. Just hope the old man got the tractor beam out of commission." The pilot replied.

Suddenly, Aurora clutched Luke's shoulder. "Look!" She said, pointing to a doorway across the hangar, where flashes of light could be seen.

The others looked up to see Ben and a tall, caped figure in black, desperately dueling with lightsabers. The stormtroopers guarding the Falcon appeared to notice the fight at the same time, and rushed across the hangar bay towards the duo.

"Come on," Han said tightly. "Now's our chance." He grabbed the Princess' hand and started towards the Falcon, followed by his co-pilot.

Luke and Aurora started after them, both still focused on the sword fight. Halfway across the bay, they saw Ben look over at them, and smile. Then, to their shock and horror, he lifted his lightsaber from Vader's and stepped back. Without hesitation, Vader swung and cut him down.

"No!" Aurora wasn't sure who yelled, she or Luke, but as one, they both skidded to a halt and started towards their fallen teacher.

The stormtroopers, hearing the shout, turned and began firing at them. Luke stood transfixed, still staring at the spot where Ben had fallen.

Behind them, Han realizing they weren't following anymore, shouted for them. "Come on!" He began returning the Imperials' fire.

"Luke, Aurora! Come on; it's too late!" Leia screamed.

Aurora, numb, began walking towards the alcove. Vader looked up from prodding the old man's fallen robes and spotted the young people. He began moving towards them.

"Blast the door, kid!" Han yelled, seeing the black-clad figure coming.

Luke seemed to shake himself out of his stupor and began firing with one hand, reaching out to catch Aurora's arm with the other. One of his wild shots hit the door control, slamming the heavy durasteel closed in front of Vader and the majority of the stormtroopers. Several of them, however, were already out past the door and continued their onslaught. Luke fired frantically at them, still holding a frozen Aurora in place. He hit one trooper, and started to move towards the other, when suddenly, he heard a voice from seemingly nowhere whisper in his ear.

"Run, Luke. Run!"

Beside him, Aurora seemed to come to life. Her green eyes, still dazed, darted frantically around the room, as if searching for the source of the voice.

Luke fired off several shots, then turned and ran for the Falcon, dragging Aurora with him. Turning to run, Aurora tripped over something and nearly fell. On reflex, she bent swiftly to grab it, stuffing it in her pocket as she followed Luke. They ducked up the ramp as the whine of the engines was heard, barely making it inside before the ramp closed. Luke gently pushed Aurora into one of the seats in the lounge, where a worried Leia waited.

Glancing at the white-faced girl, she whispered, "Was that-?"

"Ben." Luke nodded. "Aurora's father."

Beneath their feet, the deckplates rumbled, and then the engines screamed as the ship lifted off, tearing through the hangar bay and out into space.

Leia took a blanket out of one of the storage lockers and wrapped it around Aurora's shoulders. Luke sat down next to her, hesitantly laying his arm over her shoulders

Aurora glanced at him, gratefully.

Luke tried a sad smile.

"I can't believe he's gone." Aurora murmured. "I just found him, and now he's gone."

Artoo beeped sadly.

Leia sat down across from them. "There wasn't anything you could have done."

"No," Aurora said, resigned. "I guess there wasn't."

Pounding feet were heard from the direction of the cockpit, and Han burst into the lounge area.

"Come on, buddy." He said to Luke, "We're not out of this yet!" He glanced at Aurora and for a swift moment, a look of compassion was visible, then just as quickly disappeared. "Chewie could use you in the cockpit, sweetheart."

Leia was appalled. "Have you no sense of decency? Her father was just killed!"

"Yeah, and if we don't do something fast, we're going to join him."

Aurora stood up, the blanket sliding from her shoulders. "Its okay, Princess. He's right." She took a deep breath and seemed to square her shoulders. "What do you want me to do?"

Solo nodded in approval. "Help Chewie with the shields." He gestured to Luke. "Come on, kid."

The two men headed for the gun turrets, as Aurora hurried to the cockpit, with Leia on her heels.

Aurora slid into the pilot's seat next to Chewbacca. He roared in greeting, and adjusted the ship's controls. Aurora studied the screens in front of her while Leia settled quietly into the navigator's chair, behind them.

Spotting approaching ships, Aurora leaned forward and spoke into the intercom. "Here they come!"

Outside the viewscreen, the TIE fighters streaked towards the Falcon. The sound of the ship's guns firing was plainly audible. Laser bolts began appearing around the ships.

Luke's voice was heard through the intercom. "They're coming in too fast!"

The ship shook as several shots hit the shields.

Chewie muttered to Aurora, who nodded and adjusted the shields.

Several more TIE's streaked past, and the Falcon shuddered violently. Chewie put the ship into a steep dive, spinning and juking.

Aurora scanned the computer readout. "We've lost lateral controls!"

"She'll hold together." Han said confidently. A shot got through the shields, causing one of the panels to begin sparking. Still audible through the speaker, they heard Han talking to his ship. "You hear me, baby? Hold together!"

The TIE's swarmed over the saucer-shaped ship. One roared past the cockpit, only to run into Solo's fire and explode in sparkling fragments. Han's laughter was heard over the intercom. Seconds later, Luke scored a direct hit on another TIE.

"Got him, I got him!"

"Great, kid. Don't get cocky." Solo warned.

"There are still two more of them out there." Aurora stated, her eyes on the scopes.

One of the remaining ships zeroed in on them, firing relentlessly. The Falcon bounced and shook under its merciless lasers. Luke's laser cannon was heard, and then the TIE exploded, raking the smuggling ship with the shrapnel.

Leia clutched her seat with a white-knuckled grip.

With skillful aim, Solo dispatched the remaining Imperial ship.

"That's it!" Luke said, laughing with relief. "We did it!"

Aurora leaned over and gave Chewie a huge hug.

"We did it!" She yelled, echoing Luke.

Chewie urf-urfed and hugged her back.

Behind them, Leia breathed a quiet sigh of relief, pressing a hand to her racing heart.

The Falcon soared triumphantly away from the Death Star, disappearing into hyperspace.

Aurora and Luke were helping Artoo free a hopelessly tangled Threepio from the smoking, sparking wires he had managed to fall into during the fight.

Aurora shook her head. "How did you manage this?"

"It's not my fault, Mistress Aurora. I'm not designed for space battles."

Artoo beeped something decidedly sarcastic.

"Well, how was I to know? Captain Solo didn't tell me to strap in."

Luke snickered and exchanged amused glances with Aurora as they continued with the unknotting. Leia had gotten up and gone into the cockpit, passing Chewie on his way aft to check for damage.

Han's voice drifted out to the group in the lounge.

"Not a bad bit of rescuing, huh? You know, sometimes I even amaze myself."

"That doesn't sound too hard." Leia's voice said, dryly. "Besides, they let us go. It's the only explanation for the ease of our escape."

The offense in Han's voice was discernable. "Easy? You call that easy?"

"They're tracking us." Leia explained, as if to a child.

"Not this ship, sister!"

Leia sounded exasperated. "At least the information in Artoo is still intact."

"What's so important? What's he carrying?" Han asked.

"The technical readouts of that battle station." Leia explained. "I only hope that when the data is analyzed, a weakness can be found. It's not over yet." She warned.

"It is for me, sister!" Han exclaimed. "Look, I ain't in this for your revolution and I'm not in it for you, Princess! I expect to be well paid. I'm in it for the money."

The Princess sounded disgusted. "You needn't worry about your reward. If money is all that you love, then that's what you'll receive!"

Luke listened in as he worked on Threepio. "They can't seem to be together for more than five minutes without arguing."

Aurora grinned at him over the droid. "Foreplay."

"Huh?"

"They're flirting, Luke." Aurora explained.

"Flirting?" Luke cast a doubtful look towards the cockpit. "That doesn't sound like flirting to me."

"Trust me. They're probably not even aware of it, but they're flirting."

Luke wasn't certain this was a good thing. Maybe it was her small size, or the circumstances under which they'd met, but he was feeling somewhat protective towards Leia for some reason. He liked Han, but he wasn't certain he was the right sort of company for a Princess.

Leia stormed into the lounge area, her face flushed with anger. "Your friend is quite a mercenary." She told Luke, seeing him sitting on the deck. "I wonder if he really cares about anything…or anyone." She continued past them towards the cabins.

Aurora wiggled her eyebrows knowingly, causing Luke to snort with suppressed laughter.

He stood up. "I'm going to go see how it's going." He stated as he headed for the cockpit.

He sat down in the copilot seat next to Han, his thoughts still on the Princess and what Aurora had said.

"So, what do you think of her, Han?"

Solo snorted. "I'm trying not to, kid."

Luke thought about that. "Good."

Han glanced at him, a sly look in his eye. "Still, she's got a lot of spirit. I don't know, what do you think? Do you think a princess and a guy like me-?"

"No!" Luke said abruptly, cutting him off in mid sentence and looking away.

Han smiled at what he assumed was jealousy.

Aurora tucked the last wire back into the compartment and slammed the door shut. "There." She said, arching her back to stretch aching muscles. "All done."

"Oh, thank you, Mistress Aurora." Threepio exclaimed. "I didn't think I would ever get out of that mess. Imagine, anyone keeping a starship is such a state of perpetual disrepair."

Aurora smiled at the droid. "I don't think housekeeping is very high on Solo's priorities, Threepio."

Artoo blatted out an agreement.

"Artoo!" Threepio exclaimed. "That's rude, even if it is true."

Luke walked into the lounge to the sound of Aurora's laughter.

"What's so funny?"

"You had to be here." Aurora said, pushing herself to her feet. As she stood, her hip bumped into the wall next to her and something clunked. Surprised, Aurora reached in to her pocket and pulled the object out.

She stared at the silvery cylinder in shock. "It's a lightsaber." She said in wonder.

Luke came over to look at it. He recognized the carving on the handle. "That's Ben's! Where did you get it?"

Aurora lifted stunned eyes to his. "On the Death Star. In the hanger. It was just sitting next to my feet. I almost tripped over it while we were running to the ship." She ran gentle fingers over the grip. "In all the excitement, I forgot about it. I just shoved it in my pocket without looking at it and ran to the ship."

"But, Ben had this with him when-." He stopped himself, a pang of grief running through him.

"I know." Aurora said softly. "But then, how did I get it?"

They stared at each other in bemusement.

"He _was_ a Jedi." Luke said, finally. "I imagine he wanted you to have it."

Aurora was staring at the lightsaber, her eyes shadowed with grief.

Luke closed one hand over hers, around the lightsaber. "He'd want you to have it." He repeated, more firmly.

Aurora looked up, green eyes locking with blue, their hands clasped together around the silver handle. The moment stretched out. Luke opened his mouth to say something, anything, when Han strode into the lounge.

Luke dropped Aurora's hand as if it was hot and stepped away from her, his face flushing.

"Sorry to break things up, kids," Han snickered, "But I thought you'd like to know we're coming up on Yavin. Someone want to go tell her Highnessness?"

"I'll go." Aurora said her face pink with embarrassment, hurrying out of the lounge. Once out of sight, she stopped and leaned back against the wall, one hand pressed to the base of her throat. "What the hell was that?" She whispered to herself, feeling the heat from her flushed face. "This is definitely _not_ the time." She knocked on the door of the cabin where Leia had disappeared.

The door slid open to reveal a irritated looking Leia. When she saw Aurora, her face instantly cleared.

"Oh, sorry. I thought it was that contemptible-." She bit off the rest of the words and forced herself to calm.

Aurora hid a smile. "I just wanted to let you know that we're coming up on Yavin."

"Thank you." Leia said.

Aurora hesitated.

"Was there something else?" The Princess asked.

"I don't quite know how to say this, but," Aurora bit her lip, trying to find the right words. "Alderaan, it was-."

Leia stopped her. "I know. I saw it happen."

Compassion darkened the green of Aurora's eyes. "I'm sorry, so sorry."

Leia had to turn away, fighting for control. "Thank you."

Despair was rolling off Leia in waves. Aurora started to leave, intending to leave the Princess alone when Leia's voice stopped her. "It was a demonstration." She was still standing, her back turned away, but the pain she was feeling was evident in her posture.

"That's what Tarkin said."

Aurora said nothing, just stood in the doorway and let Leia speak.

"My father, my friends, my _planet_, destroyed as an object lesson to the galaxy!" Leia said, harshly. "Tarkin demanded to know the location of our base. I refused to tell him and he threatened Alderaan. Told me he'd destroy it if I didn't give him the Rebels." Her voice cracked. "So, I did. I told him they were on Dantooine. It was an old base, but he couldn't know that. He didn't know that, because he ordered a patrol to scout it out." This time, her voice didn't just crack, it broke, and her shoulders began to shake. "And then he destroyed Alderaan anyway! Dantooine was too far away to make an effective _demonstration_!" The princess was sobbing now, still turned away.

Aurora wanted to cross the room and put her arms around the smaller woman, to let her sob against her shoulder and offer her some comfort, but she didn't know if it would be welcome. They didn't know each other very well and Princess Leia seemed somewhat aloof. She might be offended. Trapped in indecision, Aurora stayed near the doorway, saying nothing, just watching as the Princess cried into her hands, shaking so hard it seemed she would shatter. Her throat tightened as Aurora fought back tears of her own. Tears for her father, and her mother, for Luke's aunt and uncle, and for Alderaan.

Leia finally cried herself empty. She felt hollow inside, but strangely calm, as if she had purged all of the emotion from her body and all that was left was determination. She dropped her hands, wiping her wet face with her sleeve. It was a little late to worry about the social niceties. After all, she had just humiliated herself in front of someone who was virtually a stranger. But Aurora didn't feel like a stranger, and Leia didn't feel embarrassed by the storm of emotion. Perhaps it was because Aurora hadn't tried to comfort her, hadn't offered platitudes or empty words. She'd just let Leia get it out, offering only wordless understanding.

Leia looked up into those deep, green eyes, shiny now with her own tears, and felt that maybe, for the first time in a long time, here was a friend.

"Thank you." She said simply.

Aurora smiled. "Your welcome…Leia."

And nothing more needed to be said between the two women.

A short time after entering the Yavin system the group found themselves landing on one of its moons and being ushered into a heavily armed military speeder. They were whisked away into the interior of a large temple that had been transformed into a military base. Aurora stared in awe at the crumbling walls surrounding them as they made their way towards the hangar bay built into the interior. Once they landed, a large group of military personnel rushed to greet them, led by a grey-haired man in a Commander's uniform. He rushed forward to hug Leia.

"You're safe! We feared the worst."

He seemed to get control of himself, and stepped back, bowing. "When we heard about Alderaan, we were afraid that you were…lost along with your father."

For a brief moment, the young Princess looked stricken, but she gained control quickly and assumed a cool expression. "We don't have time for our sorrows, Commander. The battle station has surely tracked us here." She pointedly ignored Han's skeptical snort. "It's the only explanation for the ease of our escape. You must use the information in this R2 unit to plan the attack. It is our only hope."

The Commander nodded and gestured for several of the crew to take Artoo. Threepio followed after them.

"Commander Willard, I would like to introduce you to some people. They're the reason I was able to escape the Death Star." Leia gestured the others forward. "This is Luke Skywalker and Aurora Kenobi. They rescued me from the detention cell I was being detained in."

Commander Willard started to nod in greeting then paused, brows raised. "Kenobi? Are you-?"

Aurora lifted her chin proudly. "Obi Wan Kenobi was my father."

"Was? Then he-?"

Aurora turned her head away, the words sticking in her throat.

"Obi Wan didn't make it off the Death Star, Commander. He gave his life to save ours." Luke said, his own eyes shadowed with grief.

"I'm sorry for that." Willard stated quietly. "I remember him. He was a good man." He cleared his throat and glanced curiously at the other two members of the group.

"This is Captain Solo and Chewbacca." Leia explained. "They own the starship that we escaped on. I've promised Captain Solo a reward in return for his assistance in helping me to escape."

"A reward? Oh, but-?" Willard looked slightly appalled.

"That's right, Commander." Han said, sneering slightly. "We don't work for free."

"Of course, Captain." Willard said stiffly. "We don't have many credits here. I'm afraid you'll have to settle for raw materials."

"That's fine."

"I'll arrange for your reward. You'll have to load them yourselves. We're a little busy just now."

Han ignored the sarcasm. "No problem, Chewie and I can load them just fine."

"Of course." Willard replied icily, his dislike evident. "This way, Your Highness."

He led them further into the hangar, Han and Chewie bringing up the rear.

"Pardon me, Commander." Luke said, breaking the awkward silence that had sprung up. "Princess Leia mentioned that you're short on pilots. I'd like to volunteer."

"_We'd_ like to volunteer." Aurora said, nudging Luke with her elbow.

Willard looked at the two of them with surprise. "Do you know how to fly X-Wings?"

"I've never flown one before, but I had an Income T-16 Skyhopper back home and was pretty good and I've flown in simulations." Luke said.

"I've flown an X-Wing." Aurora replied quietly.

Luke glanced at her in surprise, but didn't say anything.

The Commander looked pleased. "You'll both have to be tested, but if you pass, we'd be pleased to have you join us." He continued walking, conversing quietly with the Princess.

Han grabbed Luke by the elbow to stop him. "Have you both lost your minds?" He hissed. "You want to go up against the Death Star? Did you _see _the size of that thing? What are you thinking?"

"I'm _thinking_ they need help. And I'm _thinking_ that I want to fight against the Empire." Luke said.

"Luke," Han said in exasperation. "You've never flown in a battle before. It's a lot different than simulations."

"I don't care." Luke said stubbornly. "I want to help." He turned away and continued after the Princess and Willard.

Han and Aurora stood staring at each other.

"I can understand why Luke's doing this; he's got stars in his eyes. He's never been off that dustball of a planet and he's looking for some excitement. But you know better. So what's your excuse?" The smuggler demanded.

"I don't have an excuse." Aurora said. "This is something I need to do."

"Why? To avenge your father? You think the old man'd want you to get yourself killed?"

Aurora's hand clenched into a fist, but she stopped herself from swinging. She thought of Leia's tears on the Falcon, and the sadness that swept across Luke's face when he thought of his aunt and uncle. "What I think is that I don't want to live in a galaxy controlled by the kind of people who would destroy an entire planet just to make a point, or kill simple farmers because they _might _have some information. I saw the Death Star, Solo, just like you did. But unlike you, I also saw that it needs to be stopped. Maybe I'll be the one to do it, maybe I'll be killed. But at least I'll have tried. Unlike you, I'll have done something, not just sat on the side and watched."

"Yeah? Well, at least I'll be alive to watch!" Han retorted, and walked away.

Chewie rumbled something.

"You're wrong, Chewie. I understand him only too well." Aurora said softly.

After their testing, Luke and Aurora were given flight gear and then led to a pilot's briefing room where they were introduced to the other pilots. They sat down on a bench near a dark-haired young man dressed in a bright orange flight suit identical to theirs who had introduced himself as Wedge Antilles, from Corellia.

Han and Chewie remained standing at the back of the room; physically distancing themselves from the Rebels.

A tall older man in a general's uniform rose to stand at the front of the room near the hologram of the Death Star. "The battle station is heavily shielded and carries a firepower greater than half the star fleet. Its defenses are designed around a direct large-scale assault. A small one-man fighter should be able to penetrate the outer defense."

A rough-looking man in his early thirties stood up. "Pardon me for asking, sir, but what good are snub fighters going to be against _that_?"

The general glanced at the hologram. "Well, the Empire doesn't consider a small one-man fighter to be any threat, or they'd have a tighter defense. An analysis of the plans provided by Princess Leia has demonstrated a weakness in the battle station."

Artoo standing at the side of the room near other droids, beeped and swiveled his dome from side to side, as if in disbelief.

"The approach will not be easy," the General continued. "You are required to maneuver straight down this trench and skim the surface to this point. The target area is only two meters wide. It's a small thermal exhaust port, right below the main port. The shaft leads directly to the reactor system. A precise hit will start a chain reaction which should destroy the station." He paused as an unsettled murmur ran through the room. "Only a precise hit will set up a chain reaction. The shaft is ray-shielded, so you'll have to use proton torpedoes."

Wedge leaned towards Luke slightly. "That's impossible, even for a computer."

"It's not impossible." Luke said confidently. "I used to bull's eye womp rats in my T-16 back home. They're not much bigger than two meters."

"Yeah, but womp rats don't generally shoot back." Aurora whispered.

At the front of the room, the General wrapped up the briefing. "Man your ships! And may the Force be with you!"

The group stood up and began exiting the room, talking animatedly.

Threepio and Artoo followed Luke and Aurora down the corridor to the hangar where numerous fighters sat. Techs and pilots were rushing around, making last minute repairs, loading armaments, unlocking power couplings and saying goodbyes.

"All flight troops, man your stations. All flight troops, man your stations." A voice announced over the loud speaker.

In an area a short distance away, a pool of calm amidst the chaos, Han and Chewbacca were loading a stack of small crates onto a speeder. Luke and Aurora walked over to them.

"So, you got your reward and you're just leaving then?" Luke asked, trying to sound casual, but clearly disappointed.

"That's right." Han stated, continuing to load the boxes. "I got some old debts to pay off with this stuff. Even if I didn't, you don't think I'd be fool enough to stick around here, do you?" He turned to look at them. "Why don't you come with us? You're pretty good in a fight. We could use you."

"Come on!" Luke retorted angrily. "Why don't you take a look around? You know what's about to happen, what they're up against. They could use a good pilot like you. You're turning your back on them."

"What good's a reward if you ain't around to use it? Besides, attacking that battle station ain't my idea of courage. It's more like suicide." He turned away and began loading the speeder again.

"Alright." Luke said quietly. "Well, take care of yourself, Han. I guess that's what you're best at, isn't it?" He turned and started away.

Han watched him walk away, hesitated, and then called out. "Hey, Luke!" When the younger man stopped and turned, Han winked. "May the Force be with you!"

Luke lifted his hand slightly in acknowledgement, then walked away.

Han turned back to find Aurora staring at him, silently. "What?" He growled.

She said nothing for a moment, just watched him with those big green eyes, then suddenly broke out in a wide smile. "You'll be back."

"What?" Han said, incredulously. "Sweetheart, you're crazier than I thought if you think I'm coming back here to risk my life _and_ my ship on some lost cause."

Aurora just continued to smile. "You'll be back." She repeated, before running to catch up with Luke.

"Crazy. The girl's absolutely nuts." Han muttered to himself. He turned to meet Chewbacca's wise stare.

"What're you looking at? I know what I'm doing."

They continued to load the speeder in silence.

Luke found Leia standing next to the X-Wing he'd been assigned. She started to smile at him, but stopped when she saw his face.

"What's wrong?"

Luke gestured behind him, angrily. "Oh, it's Han! I don't know, I really thought he'd change his mind."

"He's got to follow his own path. No one can choose it for him."

Luke shrugged, and sighed. "I only wish Ben were here."

In sympathy, Leia stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, then turned and left. As Luke watched her go, another pilot ran up and grabbed his arm.

"Luke! I don't believe it! How'd you get here…are you going out with us?"

Luke stared wide-eyed at the other man. "Biggs!" He hugged his old friend. "Of course, I'll be up there with you! Listen, have I got some stories to tell you."

"I bet." Biggs laughed. "You can start with how you managed to become close enough acquainted with Princess Leia Organa to rate a kiss." He nodded off to the left. "That _was_ her, wasn't it?"

Luke grinned. "Yep. But it's a long story." They were interrupted by a voice calling Luke's name. Both men turned to see Aurora rush up to them.

"Luke! Sorry. I've got to get to my ship, but I wanted to say goodbye before we left."

Biggs gaped in open mouthed wonder at the beautiful red-head.

"Oh, sorry." Aurora apologized. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

"No," Biggs stuttered. "Not at all."

Luke was amused to see his cool and confident friend nearly falling all over himself just speaking to Aurora. "Biggs Darklighter, Aurora Kenobi." He introduced them.

Aurora smiled. "Biggs! I've heard so much about you."

"Really? Only good things I hope." Biggs was getting his balance back.

She laughed. "Of course only good things. We didn't have time to get to the bad things."

They both laughed.

Luke wasn't certain he liked the way his old friend was eyeing Aurora.

As they stood there, an older man approached.

"Are you Skywalker and Kenobi?"

"Yes, sir." Aurora answered.

"I'm Red Leader. Have you both been checked out on the Incom T-65?"

Biggs spoke up. "Sir, I don't know about Aurora, but Luke is the best bushpilot in the outer rim territories."

The older man smiled and patted Luke on the back. "I met your father once when I was just a boy, he was a great pilot." He glanced at Aurora. "I met both your fathers, actually. I'm very sorry to hear about General Kenobi."

Aurora nodded. "Thank you."

Red Leader turned back to Luke. "You'll do alright. If you've got half of your father's skill, you'll do better than all right."

"Thank you, sir." Luke answered gratefully. "I'll try."

Red Leader nodded his head and hurried away.

"I didn't make the connection before. Kenobi, you're Old Ben's daughter?" Biggs asked Aurora.

"Yes."

He started to say more, but caught Luke's slight headshake.

"Hey, listen. I've got to get aboard." Biggs clapped Luke on the shoulder. "You'll tell me everything when we come back." Biggs wiggled his eyebrows suggestively towards Aurora. "And I do mean _everything_. All right?"

Luke blushed slightly. "Sure, Biggs."

Biggs clasped Aurora's hand. "It was nice to meet you. Very nice."

She laughed. "You too, Biggs."

He saluted them and started towards his ship.

"I told you I'd make it someday, Biggs." Luke called after him.

Biggs turned with a smile. "You did, alright. It's going to be like old times, Luke. We're a couple of shooting stars that'll never be stopped!"

As Luke laughed, Aurora felt a chill run up her spine. Nerves, she thought and shook it off and turned to Luke.

"I've got to get to my ship too. I just wanted to say good bye and may the Force be with you."

Across the way, from the vantage point of his X-Wing, Biggs saw her step in and place a soft kiss on Luke's lips, then back away, wave and run off.

Luke touched his fingertips to his lips in bemusement, still staring after her.

Biggs laughed softly to himself. "Niiice. Way to go, Skywalker!"

Luke climbed up the ladder to his X-Wing, his mind still dwelling on the feel of Aurora's lips against his. The crew chief caught his attention, gesturing to the little astromech being loaded into his socket at the back of the ship.

"This R2 unit of yours seems a bit beat up. Do you want a new one?"

"Not on your life!" Luke avowed. "That little droid and I have been through a lot together." He looked at the little droid. "You okay, Artoo?"

Artoo chirped a response.

Below them, standing on the hangar floor, Threepio looked up. Artoo beeped a goodbye.

"Hang on tight, Artoo, you've got to come back." Threepio called, his mechanical voice sounding anxious.

Artoo beeped a reassurance.

"You wouldn't want my life to get boring, would you?" Threepio asked. He was answered with a whistle from Artoo.

The hangar had become a hive of activity. Most of the pilots were in their ships now, and the ground crews were detaching coupling hoses. The din was occasionally broken by announcements from the loudspeaker overhead. Cockpit shields were rolled into place as the ships began to be directed on their routes out of the hangar. Aurora lifted her helmet onto her head, making certain it fit snugly. She flipped her goggles into place, and checked the readouts on the screens in front of her.

A voice sounded in her ear. "Aurora, the Force will be with you."

She tapped the headset in her helmet as, confused, she looked around the hangar for the source of the voice. Two X-Wing's over, she could see Luke's head swiveling as if he too were looking for something.

A crackling in her headset and the command to launch left her little time to ponder the odd voice. Almost before she knew it, they were in orbit around the fourth moon and heading towards Yavin.

A voice reported over her intercom. "Stand-by alert. Death Star approaching. Estimated time to firing range, fifteen minutes."

All around her, the X-Wings and Y-Wings formed up into their respective squadrons.

"All wings report in." Red Leader ordered.

"Red Ten, standing by."

"Red Seven, standing by."

"Red Three, standing by." Biggs stated, his voice calm.

A heavy pilot they'd met named Porkins was next. "Red Six, standing by."

"Red Nine, standing by."

"Red Two, standing by." That was Wedge Antilles, the dark haired pilot they'd sat next to during the briefing.

"Red Eleven, standing by."

Aurora felt a slight thrill go through her when she heard Luke's voice say, "Red Five, standing by." He sounded excited.

Then it was her turn. "Red Four, standing by."

The rest of the squadron reported in and Red Leader issued another command. "Lock S-Foils in attack position."

In near perfect formation, the X-Wings unfolded their wings and locked them into their distinctive x-shape.

Aurora surveyed her surrounding as Red Leader's voice came over the comm again. "We're passing through their magnetic field. Hold tight!"

Aurora tensed as her X-Wing began to bounce slightly.

"Switch your deflectors on. Double front!"

She flipped a switch and the shuddering ceased.

Through her forward viewscreen the Death Star became visible. From this distance it did indeed look like the moon Solo had though it, but it was rapidly growing larger as they approached and the surface features became plainly visible.

Over the comm she heard Wedge inhale sharply. "Look at the size of that thing!"

"Cut the chatter, Red Two." Red Leader reprimanded him. "Accelerate to attack speed. This is it, boys!"

Aurora was amazed all over again at the sheer arrogance necessary to create something like the Death Star. It was truly amazing. So large that half of it was still in shadow, like a planet, with lights shining on it in scattered clusters like cities. On their first visit to the the Death Star, they had been hiding in the smuggling compartments and hadn't gotten a good view of the battle station. And she had been far too busy with the TIE's during their wild escape to pay any attention to the Death Star. But viewing it now, she got chills all over. Because, despite all its architectural magnificence, there was only one purpose for the Death Star: it was a planet killer and that was a truly frightening thought.

"Okay, group, you know the plan. Gold Squad is heading for the target, the guns are ours. We're going to cut across the axis and try to draw their fire. Go!"

The two squadrons split, the X-Wings diving in sharp formation towards the surface of the station while the Y-Wings held back. The massive Imperial guns began firing, and thousands of laser bolts blazed through the sky. The X-Wings began their deadly dance in an attempt to give their comrades a chance.

"Heavy fire, boss! Twenty degrees." Wedge reported.

"I see. Stay low." Red leader ordered.

Luke set his ship into a sharp dive. "This is Red Five; I'm going in!"

"Right behind you, Five." Aurora reported, following just off Luke's right wing. Luke fired feverishly and was rewarded with a huge explosion. Alarm ran across Aurora's face as she realized he wouldn't be able to avoid the fireball.

"Luke, pull up!"

His ship disappeared into the flames then promptly appeared on the other side, scorch marks visible on the edges of his wings.

"Are you all right?" Aurora queried.

She heard Luke blow out a breath. "I got a little cooked, but I'm okay."

"A little less enthusiasm next time, Five." Biggs commed.

Red Leader flew past them. "Aurora, let me know when you're going in."

Aurora prepared for her dive. "I'm on my way now."

"Watch yourself! There's a lot of fire coming from the right side of that deflection tower."

"I'm on it." She reported calmly. Her ship dove into a twisting, turning spiral towards the surface of the battle station. Laser bolts streaked towards her, but her ship danced through them, firing its own weapons. Under the deadly barrage, several surface emplacements and the tower blew up. She smiled as she sailed through the explosion across the dull grey surface.

"Scratch one deflection tower." She murmured to herself.

"Good run, Four." She heard Red Leader say.

"Thanks, Lead."

Another voice came across the comm. "Squad leaders, we've picked up a new group of signals. Enemy fighters coming your way."

Luke looked around trying to physically spot the incoming fighters. "My scope's negative. I don't see anything."

"Keep up your visual scanning. With all this jamming, they'll be on top of you before your scope can pick them up." Red Leader ordered.

And suddenly, there they were. Bulbous double winged ships coming up at them.

"Biggs! You've picked one up. Watch it!"

Biggs' voice sounded slightly panicked. "I can't see it! Where is he?"

Luke spotted his friend's ship flying away from the Death Star, closely pursued by a TIE. He dove after them, wincing as the TIE fired several blasts.

"He's on me tight, I can't shake him…I can't shake him!" Biggs yelled, setting his ship into a steep dive.

"Hang on, Biggs, I'm coming in." Luke assured him. He was quickly catching up on the two descending ships. Biggs dropped until he was just skimming the surface of the station. Luke slipped neatly in behind the TIE and triggered off a quad burst. The TIE burst into flames.

"Got him!" Luke crowed.

"Thanks, Luke." Biggs sighed, but the relief in his voiced changed abruptly to alarm. "Pull in, Luke. Pull in!"

"Watch your back, Luke!" Aurora yelled.

"Watch your back!" Wedge echoed. "Fighter's above you, coming in!"

Luke pulled away from the surface, the pursuing TIE right behind him. He tried to shake him, but the Imperial pilot hung, firing off a shot. It scored down the right side of the X-Wing. Luke spotted flames licking at the shell of the fighter. He quickly scanned diagnostics. "I'm hit, but not bad." He glanced at the smoke that was rising behind the astromech. "Artoo, see what you can do with it. Hang on back there." Green laser bolts blasted past him, and he twisted trying to see the enemy ship.

"Red Four, can you see Five?" Red Leader asked, concern evident in his voice.

"Negative." Aurora twisted recklessly around a tower, trying to locate Luke in the chaos of battle.

"There's a heavy fire zone on this side." Red Ten reported. "Red Five, where are you?"

Luke was finally able to spot the TIE behind him, and tore away from the Death Star.

"I can't shake him!" He said, frustrated.

"I'm on him, Luke!" Wedge commed. "Hold on!"

Luke checked his viewscreen as the enemy fire got closer. "Blast it! Wedge, where are you?"

Behind him Wedge dropped in behind the TIE and began firing. The TIE juked, but Wedge fired relentlessly and the resultant firestorm turned the TIE into rapidly disintegrating trash.

Luke sighed relief. "Thanks, Wedge."

"Good shooting, Wedge!" Biggs called.

"Gold Squad has started their run."

The next several minutes were a blur of TIE's, X-Wings, laser blasts, and rotating views of the stars as Red Squadron climbed, dove, twisted and turned in an attempt to defeat their enemies.

Control's voice came over the comm again. "Death Star will be in range in five minutes."

Luke heard and felt a moment of panic. If they didn't stop the Death Star soon, it would blast Yavin into pieces, just like Alderaan.

Then he heard something that froze the blood in his veins.

"Red Group, this is Red Leader. Rendezvous at mark six point one."

Luke felt dread creep up his spine. That was the order to start a run on the exhaust port. That meant Gold Squadron not only hadn't succeeded, but if the X-Wing's were being ordered in, it meant the Y-Wing's were gone. He swallowed back sudden fear.

"This is Red Two. Flying towards you." He heard Wedge report in followed shortly by Biggs. "Red Three, standing by."

"Red Four, on my way." The sound of Aurora's voice steadied Luke. He could tell she too understood the implications of this order, but she sounded determined. They had a job to do, and they were going to do it.

"Red Five, reporting in." Luke said, his voice firm.

General Dodonna's voice came over the comm. "Red Leader, this is Base One. Keep half of your group out of range for the next run."

"Copy, Base One." Red Leader replied. "Luke, take Red Two, Three and Four. Hold up here and wait for my signal to start your run."

Luke nodded. "Yes, sir." The four wings held their position, watching while the other three dropped away towards the surface of the battle station.

They left their comms open so that the waiting group could hear what was happening.

"This is it." Red Leader said.

Luke could hear the sound of laser cannon firing.

Red Ten's voice came. "We should be able to see it by now."

"Keep your eyes open for those fighters!" Red Leader ordered.

"There's too much interference." Ten declared. "Red Five, can you see them from where you are?"

Luke scanned the area below him. "No sign of any-wait! Coming in point three five."

"I see them."

The three X-Wing's had long dropped out of sight. Their waiting squadmates could only listen to what was happening.

"I'm in range." Red Leader reported.

Luke felt a surge of excitement.

"Target's coming up! Just hold them off for a few seconds."

There was the sound of an explosion, and on their radar, the blip indicating Red Twelve faded out.

"You'd better let her loose!" Red Ten said.

"Almost there." Lead intoned.

"I can't hold them!" Red Ten panicked.

Suddenly a scream of anguish ripped through their speakers, followed by an explosion. Red Ten's mark disappeared. Aurora shuddered.

There was a ping from the radar, and they heard Red Leader's words. "It's away!"

"It's a hit!" Red Nine exclaimed, from where he was monitoring the activity.

"Negative." Red Leader sounded tired. "Negative. It didn't go in. It just impacted on the surface." His X-Wing was visible now, peeling away from the surface.

"Red Leader, we're right above you. Turn to point-," Luke glanced down to locate the X-Wing. "Oh-Five; we'll cover for you."

"Stay there." Red Leader commanded. "I just lost my starboard engine. Get set to make your attack run." Following on his words came the sound of an explosion. Luke looked down, frantically trying to locate Red Leader's ship, but saw only the remains of an explosion. He swallowed convulsively, feeling a sense of hopelessness rise up. The four of them were all that was left, and he was supposed to lead them. He'd never flown in combat before, never even been off his home planet before this; what was he doing in a space battle above some terrifying battle station in a planetary system he'd never even heard of? As the panic threatened to overwhelm him, his comm crackled to life and he heard Aurora's voice. "Luke, you can do this. You're a great pilot. I have faith in you." Luke realized she was speaking on the ship to ship comm so that no one else could hear them.

"I'm scared." He admitted.

"So am I. So are Wedge and Biggs, I imagine. It doesn't matter. We have to do this, or what happened to Alderaan will happen to other planets. We won't fail, because we _can't."_

Her words strengthened him, or maybe it was just the utter conviction in her tone. Luke took a deep breath. "You're right. You're absolutely right. Thanks."

"For you, anytime." He could hear the smile in her voice as she repeated his words from the trash compactor.

Luke felt a smile break out on his face. It was his lucky day when Aurora Kenobi came into his life. Feeling more in command, he triggered his comm.. "Biggs, Wedge, Aurora, let's close it up. We're going in. We're going in full throttle."

Wedge's voice came back immediately, full of confidence. "Right with you, boss."

The four X-Wings dove towards the Death Star.

"Luke, at that speed will you be able to pull out in time?" Biggs asked.

Luke smiled. "It will be just like Beggar's Canyon back home. We're going in, two by two."

"Based on our test results, Aurora's a better shot than Wedge or I. We'll stay back far enough to cover the two of you." Biggs offered.

Laser bolts began flashing outside their canopies. They would have been pretty if they weren't so deadly.

"My scope shows the tower, but I can't see the exhaust port. Are you sure the computer can hit it?" Wedge asked.

Luke certainly hoped so. He moved his targeting device into position. "Watch yourself. Increase speed full throttle."

Aurora stayed right with him. A quick glance over showed that she too had her targeting device ready.

Wedge's voice came again. "What about the tower?"

"You worry about those fighters. I'll worry about the tower." Luke ordered. They continued to fly down the trench, dodging laser blasts and returning fire. Luke felt sweat trickle down his temple when a laser burst nicked one of his wings. "Artoo, that stablizer's broken loose again. See if you can't lock it down."

Suddenly the TIE's appeared behind them. There were two regular TIE fighters, and one odd-looking prototype in front of them. Almost immediately, the lead TIE fired, scoring a direct hit on Wedge's X-Wing, which began to quickly slow down.

"Wedge!" Aurora yelled.

"I'm hit!" Wedge reported. "I can't stay with you!"

"Get clear, Wedge." Luke ordered. "You can't do any more good back there."

"Sorry." Wedge sounded dismayed. His ship pulled up and away, slowly. Luke held his breath until he saw the Imperials weren't going to pursue the crippled X-Wing.

The three rebels continued down the trench, the three TIE's flying behind them in perfect formation.

"Hurry, Luke." Biggs urged. "They're coming in much faster this time. I can't hold them!"

Luke looked back at the droid. "Artoo, try and increase the power."

Luke looked into the targeting device. Something didn't feel right about using it. He moved it away, then put it back again.

"Hurry up, Luke!" Biggs said.

The TIE's were coming up fast. Luke saw Bigg's try to block them, but they were too fast. He didn't have time to shout a warning. Just heard Biggs say, "Wait!" and then saw the explosion as the lead fighter's lasers hit his X-Wing and shredded it.

"No!" Aurora whispered.

Luke felt tears burn in his eyes, but refusing to shed them, he gritted his teeth. Aurora dropped back so that her ship was directly behind Luke's, shielding him.

"What do you think you're doing?" Luke demanded.

"My job." Aurora said. "I'm your extra set of shields, so you get a shot at this thing. Hurry up and blow it!"

Luke tried to ignore the image in his head of Aurora's ship exploding into flame. He focused on the targeter again, adjusting the sight. Behind him, Aurora and the lead TIE danced back and forth in the narrow trench. She wasn't allowing the Imperial a clear shot.

Luke lined up the crosshairs, taking a deep breath, then suddenly he heard a voice. The same voice he'd heard several times now. "Use the Force, Luke." He glanced up in reflex, but already knew there was no one there. Shaking his head, he lined up his shot again with the targeting device, then hesitated. It just didn't feel right.

"Let go, Luke." He recognized the voice this time; Ben's voice. Ignoring everything else, he closed his eyes, concentrating on that elusive tingle he'd first felt in the lounge of the Millenium Falcon with a blast helmet over his eyes.

"Luke, trust me." Ben said.

Then Aurora's voice came, just a whisper, the strain of avoiding the Imperial's lasers evident. "Do it."

He nodded and reached out to shut off the targeting device, watched it slide away.

Almost immediately Base Control came on the comm. "Their computers' are off. Luke, Aurora, you switched off your targeting computers. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Luke said calmly. "I'm all right."

Aurora didn't bother to answer. She was too busy concentrating on keeping her ship between Luke's and the Imperial's and at the same time, avoiding their laser fire herself. Suddenly, the prototype made a nearly impossible maneuver and slipped a laser burst past her.

"Luke!" She blurted in panic.

The laser blast hit Artoo square on his barrel-shaped torso. The little droid let loose a high-pitched squeal, then went limp. Luke looked frantically back at the astromech, seeing a mess of sparks and smoke.

"I've lost Artoo!"

Over the comm he heard the base intercom. "The Death Star has cleared the planet. The Death Star has cleared the planet.

Luke turned away from Artoo, to stare at the exhaust port. Suddenly from behind them, laser fire tore into one of the trailing TIE's, causing a spectacular explosion.

Over their comm Luke and Aurora heard a familiar voice yelling. "Yahoo!"

The both saw the Millenium Falcon appear in their rear scopes, heading right for the Imperial ships.

The leader's wingman, must have panicked. In an attempt to avoid the Falcon, he bumped into the prototype, sending his own ship careening into the wall of the trench to explode in a shower of sparks, and the prototype spinning off into space.

"Way to go, Solo!" Aurora cheered.

"You're all clear, kids. Now let's blow this thing and go home!"

Luke smiled broadly. He concentrated, his eyes half closed, feeling that familiar warm sensation he'd learned from Ben, and thumbed the trigger. Two missiles shot away from his ship. As he pulled up and away, he saw Aurora fire off two missiles of her own. They all disappeared directly into the exhaust port, seeming to vanish. He let out his breath in a giant puff of relief, and heard Aurora make almost the exact same noise. Throwing all power to his thrusters, he led the way, trying to put as much space between himself and the doomed Death Star as possible. He was followed by Aurora and Han. They soon caught up with Wedge's damaged ship and the one Y-Wing that had survived. The five ships raced away together, heading for Yavin.

Far behind them, small explosions began blossoming on the surface of the Death Star. Suddenly, the entire Death Star erupted in a gigantic, spectacular explosion. Luke closed his eyes against the brilliance.

"Great shot, kid." Han congratulated him. "That was one in a million."

"Don't you mean two in a million, Han?" Luke laughed.

"Thank you." Aurora replied, a smile evident in her voice.

Luke relaxed back into his seat, closing his eyes.

"Remember, the Force will be with you…always." A familiar voice whispered in his ear.

"Luke, did you just hear-?" Aurora asked.

"Yep." He replied, content for the moment not to want to worry about it.

"Just checking." She said. He could hear the same contentment in her voice.

They quickly landed in the hangar bay of the Rebel Base. Instantly all five ships were surrounded by cheering throngs of people. As Luke popped his canopy and climbed out of the cockpit, the roar of the crowd increased. He climbed down the ladder, helped by eager hands, grasping him and clapping him on the back. He grinned and nodded, trying to see through the crowd. There was a slight commotion to his left, and Aurora pushed through. She threw herself at him, clinging tightly when he swept her up to spin her in a circle. She just wanted to hang on a minute, feel him pressed against her, safe.

"We did it! We did it!" Luke shouted.

"You did it." Aurora stated, pulling back to stare into those blue eyes. "I just followed your lead."

Luke blushed, then to her surprise, dipped his head and kissed her. Their lips had barely touched before a familiar voice was calling their names.

"Luke! Aurora!"

Luke let her go just in time to catch the Princess as she hurled herself into his arms

The two of them danced around in a circle, before Leia detached herself to fling her arms around Aurora, all royal dignity forgotten. Behind them, Han and Chewbacca appeared. The pilot and Luke hugged, slapping each other's backs.

"Hey! Hey!"

"I knew you'd come back! I just knew it!" Luke chortled.

"Well, I wasn't going to let you get all the credit and take all the reward!" Han laughed. He grabbed Aurora and yanked her into his arms, planting a loud kiss on her mouth. "Great flying, sweetheart!"

Aurora laughed, hugging him back. "I told you." Was all she said. Solo tried to scowl, but he was fighting not to laugh. Chewie yowled and grabbed Aurora in one arm and Luke in the other, lifting them several feet off the floor in a giant Wookiee hug.

Leia and Han laughed at the sounds they both made.

The Princess looked at Han, a smile on her face. "I knew there was more to you than money."

The smuggler didn't reply, just grinned.

Luke, having been released from Chewie's grip, started to make a comment, then saw Artoo being slowly lowered from his X-Wing. All trace of frivolity disappeared from his face. "Oh, no!"

Threepio looked on as the melted-looking astromech was lowered to the hangar floor. "Oh, my, Artoo! Can you hear me? Say something!" The obviously worried protocol droid turned to the mechanic lowering him. "You can repair him, can't you?"

"We'll get to work on him right away." The technician assured the golden droid.

"You must repair him! Sir, if any of my circuits or gears will help, I'll gladly donate them." Threepio stated.

Luke tried to reassure the droid. "He'll be all right."

Aurora patted the golden shoulder. "Don't worry, Threepio. The techs will get him fixed right up. After all, he's a hero. Why don't you go with them. You'll feel better."

"Oh, thank you, Mistress Aurora. I believe I will." Threepio said, somehow managing to inject relief into his mechanical voice. He tottered off after the tech.

The crowd parted again to reveal another form clad in a bright orange flight suit fighting his way past the well-wishers.

"Wedge!" Luke yelled.

The other pilot rushed forward to give Luke a hug, then Aurora.

"Thank the Force you're all right." Aurora exclaimed. "I was worried when you got hit."

"Nah," Wedge said. "They just got my ship." His expression darkened. "I'm just sorry I couldn't stay and help you."

"You did help, Wedge." Luke assured him. "Neither one of us would have gotten a chance to make those shots if you hadn't taken the hit for us."

Wedge grinned. "Thanks. But how 'bout next time, you get your ship shot and I'll blow up the Death Star?"

"Come on, you three! We've got a celebration to get to!" Leia ordered, looping her elbow through Luke's arm. She had hold of Han with the other hand. Luke felt slender fingers lock around his, and knew without looking that it was Aurora. Surrounded by the still cheering crowds, they headed out of the hangar.

Dressed in borrowed clothes, Aurora found herself waiting impatiently in a small anteroom off the crowded main temple. She could hear the muted hum of conversation from the hundreds of beings standing in the temple, waiting for the award ceremony to begin. She tugged at her short jacket, irritably. Leia had wanted her to wear a dress, but Aurora refused. If she was going to go through with the asinine ceremony, she would do it as a pilot, not some dressed-up doll. As she'd told Leia with some asperity, she'd worn a flightsuit to blow up the damn thing, why couldn't she wear one to be honored for it? Leia had just thrown her hands up in exasperation and left the room. Later, she'd shown up with the tan pants, white shirt and dark green jacket Aurora was wearing now. Han was all dressed up too, and Chewie had been forced to brush his fur. Leia, they'd all discovered, was a nag. Even Threepio had been all polished up for the coming ceremony.

"Will you sit down and relax? You're making me nervous."

Aurora glanced over her shoulder at where Han sat sprawled in chair. "I hate this."

"What's the big deal? You go out there, they give you a shiny circle, and everybody smiles a lot. Then you're done."

"The big deal is I feel like an idiot. I don't need a stupid medal and I don't want a stupid ceremony. I just want to be left alone." Aurora snarled in frustration, dropping into the chair next to Han.

He grinned at her. "That's what happens when you're a big time hero, sweetheart."

Aurora made an obscene gesture at the smuggler and Han laughed. "Next time, maybe you'll listen to me and not go flying off to save the galaxy."

Chewie roared at his partner and Aurora snickered. "Chewie's right, Solo. Didn't you come flying back in to save the galaxy?"

The captain looked disgruntled. "Who's side are you on anyway, fuzzball?"

Chewie and Aurora were both laughing when the door opened and admitted Luke. Leia had been at him too and he was all dressed up in brown pants and a yellow jacket. It looked good on him. Aurora discreetly looked him over. Very good on him. She looked back to meet Chewie's knowing blue gaze and felt herself blush. Fortunately, Luke hadn't noticed. He was speaking to Han, anxiously tugging at his jacket and pants.

"Nervous, kid?" Han asked.

"A little. I've never done anything like this." Luke confessed.

"Nothing to it, kid." Han declared.

The door opened again to admit Wedge, dressed in a non-descript flightsuit.

"Hey!" Aurora exclaimed. "How come you're not all dressed up?"

Wedge grinned at her. "Cause I'm not part of the ceremony."

Luke and Aurora both frowned. "That's not fair." Luke said. "You were up there risking your life too. You deserve to be honored just as much as we do."

Wedge shook his head. "But I didn't fire the fatal shots." He gave a mock shudder. "I'm just as happy not to have to get all prettied up and stand in front of a whole crowd of beings, all staring at me." He shuddered again. "No thank you. I'll leave the hero stuff to the two of you."

A thoughtful look appeared on Aurora's face. "What do you think the odds are that we can still sneak out of here?"

"Not very good." A voice declared from the doorway. One of General Dodonna's aides stood there. "I've been sent to fetch you. The ceremony is about to begin."

Wedge grinned at them all. "Good luck." Her gave a casual wave as he sauntered past the aide, laughing when he heard Aurora's muttered: "Traitor."

All in all it could have been worse, Aurora decided. She felt like an idiot as she paraded down the aisle past all of the ranks of the rebels, towards the dais at the end where Leia awaited. At least there were no speeches. Leia smiled and hung a heavy bronze medal around each of their necks, then gestured for them to turn and face the assembled ranks. The crowd certainly seemed to approve judging by the way they cheered. Aurora heard Luke laugh and turned to see what he was looking at. A smile spread across her face as she spotted a newly repaired and freshly shined Artoo Detoo beeping and rocking from side to side. She found herself thinking back to that day in the dusty cantina when she'd watched a young farmer and an old man walk in.

"Could have been worse." She murmured to herself as the assembled Rebel Alliance filled the room with the sound of their victory against the Galactic Empire.


End file.
